Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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DRAG RACING NHRA MELLO YELLO PRO STOCK SERIES ROUND 7/JULY 6, 2014 SUMMIT MOTORSPORTS PARK/NORWALK, OHIO P96 After finishing second on back-to- back weekends, Arana Sr. must be won- dering what he has to do to win another race. Arana Sr. remains winless since his championship season in 2009, a span of 74 races. "We had a good bike, but we just didn't have enough to get the job done today," Arana Sr. said. "We're getting closer, though. We've been in the final round for the last two weeks and I know we've got a win coming. I can feel it." CN FINAL 1. ANDREW HINES (HARLEY- DAVIDSON) 6.901/193.96 MPH 2. HECTOR ARANA (BUELL) 6.924/195.53 MPH Briefly... race. You can't relive what hap- pened. I just need to regroup, come back to the next race, and start all over again fresh." After getting beat by MSR Buell teammate Angie Smith, it didn't take long for Petrolhead Buell's Scotty Pollacheck to diagnose his issue as a worn rear tire. "We've got about 45 runs on this tire and that's enough," Pollacheck said. "My early numbers were way off and the only thing that we can think of is the rear tire. I don't think I could have beaten Angie anyway, but having a new tire would have helped. " Following a round where three of his four bikes got beat, Matt Smith offered the following observation about his wife, Angie, who's Kandy Magazine Buell was the only team bike to advance. "She's got a horse- shoe up her ass," Smith said. "Right now, she can do no wrong." The best race of the day came in the second round when Steve Johnson defeated An- gie Smith on a small holeshot, 6.988 to 6.986. Johnson's Suzuki was just .005 of a sec- ond ahead of Smith's Buell at the finish line - a margin of vic- tory of just a few inches. For the fifth-straight race, Screamin' Eagle Harley-David- son's Eddie Krawiec qualified his V-Rod on the pole. Krawiec set the Summit Motorsports Park track record on Friday night with a 6.844-second run. "Lately, we've been very strong in qualifying," Krawiec said. "It seems like we have the ability to take my bike out of the trailer and go make a good run with it. Now, we just need some of that success to carry over into race day. That's where the problem has been. Once we get that fixed we'll really have something to work with." As impressive as Krawiec's five low qualifier awards are, they pale in comparison to the 10-straight poles claimed by Matt Hines during his champi- onship season in 1999. After qualifying, Eddie Krawiec, Andrew Hines, and Hector Arana Jr. have all clinched spots in the upcom- ing Miramonte Records Pro Bike Battle, scheduled for lat- er this month in Sonoma. The Miramonte Records Pro Bike Battle is a specialty race for the top eight Pro Stock Motorcycle racers in NHRA. The race pays $25,000 to win. Star Racing Buell rookie Chaz Kennedy qualified number four in the field, the highest starting spot of his brief career. Kennedy hopes that his recent performance resonates with the members of the media who vote for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award, which recog- nizes NHRA's top rookie racer. "I hope we've started to get people's attention," said Ken- nedy. Hines' victory was the 35 th of his career.