Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 27 JULY 9, 2013 (Left) Smith defeated Scotty Pollacheck in the final to break a two-year winless streak. (Bel0w) The victor enjoys the spoils of victory. P91 Briefly... much publicized pit area altercation between Matt Smith and a crew member on Hector Arana's Lucas Oil team that took place in the Englishtown round. Smith, for one, isn't about to forgive and forget. "My biggest rival out here is definitely Hector," Smith said. "Our teams don't get along at all. It actually kind of makes this a fun class to be in right now. I mean we don't all have to be friends out here." Following his win, Matt Smith was also quick to offer up an opinion on the struggles of Vance & Hines riders Krawiec and Hines, who won 15 of 16 events last year, but remain winless in 2013 - largely due to the new rules package that banned their four-valve engine combination. "We've had four different winners this year and a bunch of others that have come close and this is the way it should be," Smith said. "At this race, we had a Harley, a Buell, and a Suzuki that all ran well. Any bike can win at any time. It's just a matter of who is the most consistent on race day. Yes, I'm glad to see [the Harley team] down a little. They have power and potential, but this year they have to work for it. They had a big advantage for the last three years and now it's time for them to share the wealth. They dominated us so much I don't feel bad for them at all." The once massive points lead that Hector Arana Jr. built by winning the first three events of the 2013 season has dwindled to just 48 after the Lucas Oil Buell rider red-lighted in the opening round of eliminations. Since his hot start, Arana Jr. has now lost in the first round in three of the last four events. "It's occurring too much this season, so we need to get that corrected," Arana Jr. said. "The only good part is that it's happening now and not later in the year like during the Countdown to the Championship. We've got to be ready for that." It took a clutch performance for Gann's Speed Buell's Shawn Gann just to make the field in Norwalk. Entering Saturday's fourth qualifying session; Gann was on the bump spot, but was knocked out of the field by Dawn Minturn, who was leasing one of Matt Smith's Buell's for the weekend. Facing a tough 7.03 bump spot, Gann responded with a 7.02 that knocked Minturn from the field. "We actually should have run a lot quicker than that," Gann said. "There's no reason why we shouldn't have been in the sixes, but we didn't make a good run on Friday night." When Eddie Krawiec defeated Angie Smith in the first round, it marked his 200th round win in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition. Krawiec now has a record of 20085 during his career, which includes 114 events. The only other rider in the field with more than 200 round wins is Krawiec's Vance & Hines teammate, Andrew Hines, who has 306 in 173 events. The Suzuki contingent was a bit thin in Norwalk as just four riders; Steve Johnson, LE Tonglet, and Jimmy Underdahl made the field and only Phillips and Johnson were able to survive the opening round. Phillips damaged his four-cylinder engine during his opening round win over Hector Arana Jr. and could not return and Johnson lost a close 6.95 to 6.98 battle against Eddie Krawiec.

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