Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/581686
IN THE WIND P26 ONE STEP CLOSER W ith his latest win at the NHRA Keystone Na- tionals in Reading, Pennsyl- vania, October 2-4, Screa- min' Eagle Harley-Davidson's Andrew Hines moved a step closer to what could be his fifth-career NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship. Hines entered the Reading event as the series points leader and then extended his advantage after a final round win against Pippin Trucking Buell's Chip Ellis. Hines won the final with a quick 6.794 to defeat Ellis' 6.818. "That win light came on for the final, and I was over the moon," Hines said. "I know how fast Chip had been all weekend and all year. Luck- ily, we were able to dip into the 6.7's with him and put up a nice, tight final round for the fans. We really needed this win. I didn't have a great race last weekend in St. Louis and we needed to get back some of the momen- tum, and the points we gave up." The Reading event proved to be one of the most challenging races of the year for NHRA's two-wheel competitors. Persis- tent rain and cold temperature shortened qualifying to just one session. Hines was number two in the field behind his Screamin' Eagle teammate Eddie Krawiec. The consistency issues that had plagued Hines earlier were absent on race day when he rode his V-Rod to elapsed times of 6.82, 6.80, and a 6.83 in his wins over Chaz Kennedy, Karen Stoffer, and Victory Gunner's Matt Smith. After the final, Hines now leads Krawiec by 89 points in the standings, his largest lead of the season. He also celebrated career win number 41, which ties him with Angelle Sampey for second in the class, behind the late Dave Schultz's 45-career victories. Ellis has shown a remarkable improvement at recent events beginning with a runner-up finish in Indianapolis. Ellis defeated Steve Johnson in the first round and then watched while Lucas Oil Buell's Hector Arana Jr., and Krawiec both red-lighted against him. Ellis made the quickest pass of the weekend with a 6.77 and also moved to number six in the standings following his second final of the season. "We're making a lot of prog- ress with this Buell," Ellis said. "It's a little frustrating that we haven't won a race yet, but we know it's coming. It might be a little hard to run down Andrew for the championship but there are three races left this season and we absolutely want to get a win before we're done." Kevin McKenna PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN MCKENNA Andrew Hines won the NHRA round in Pennsylvania and is closing in on his fifth title.