VOL. 51 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 P75
Briefly...
but this would have been a perfect
weekend to capitalize."
The beneficiary of Krawiec's mis-
fortune was independent Fred Ca-
marena, who claimed his first round
win in 11 years aboard his Vance &
Hines-powered Suzuki. Camarana's
last round win came at the 2003
season-opener in Gainesville when
he beat the late Brian Schultz. "I
didn't even know if we'd qualify for
this race," said Camarena. "To make
it and actually win a round is a big bo-
nus for us."
John Hall lost more than just a
drag race when he was defeated by
MSR Buell teammate Angie Smith in
the opening round of the Charlotte
round. As the result of a side-bet,
Hall also had to wear one of Smith's
Kandy Girl T-shirts for the remainder
of the day.
After qualifying for the Charlotte
race, Bad Boy Buggies Suzuki's Jim
Underdahl elected not to travel to
Texas for the re-scheduled event. As
a result, Eddie Krawiec got to make
a single run in the opening round.
Shawn Gann had one of his qualify-
ing runs thrown out after his fuel did
not pass an NHRA mandated fuel
check. Gann's father and team own-
er, Blake, explained that the team
inadvertently used pump gas instead
of the NHRA mandated VP Race
Fuel. More specifically, fellow rider
David Barron, who leased a Gann
Speed Bike for the weekend, used
the wrong jug to fill Gann's bike.
Hector Arana Jr's championship
at every race also helps.
Your competitors tend to
take notice of that."
Johnson returned to
the final round for the first
time since his season-opening win in
Gainesville last March. After qualify-
ing number three, Johnson cruised
past Michael Ray and Kandy Buell's
Angie Smith before Star Buell's Chaz
Kennedy fouled against him in the
semi finals. Johnson was lucky in that
round because his bike broke just a
few feet off the starting line.
"Hey Dallas, where do we get a
lottery ticket?" Johnson joked. "We're
lucky. Even the best team out here will
tell you that you have to have a little
bit of luck and we're far from the best
time out here. I'm proud to have the
only Suzuki in the Countdown."
Hines's teammate Eddie
Krawiec won Saturday's
make up race for the
Charlotte round that
was postponed and
completed in Texas.
continued on next page
