IN
THE
WIND
P34
KRAWIEC TAKES NARROW VICTORY IN ATLANTA
B
eginning the 2016 season
with a win in Gainesville
and a runner-up finish at the
Charlotte round, Screamin'
Eagle Harley-Davidson's Eddie
Krawiec was the easy favorite
when the NHRA Mello Yello Pro
Stock Motorcycle tour headed
to Atlanta Dragway for the Sum-
mit Racing Southern Nationals.
His hot start notwithstanding,
Krawiec has always had an affin-
ity for the Atlanta track, the site
of his first NHRA win in 2009.
He now has four victories in the
Peach State after a thrilling win
over White Alligator Suzuki's
Jerry Savoie in the final round.
Krawiec gave up a small hole-
shot to Savoie in the final and
won by a narrow margin, 6.82 to
6.85.
"Atlanta has treated me very
well," Krawiec said. "I just have
a very comfortable feeling every
time I come here. I can't really
explain it but we just seem to
have a good result whenever we
pull into this track. I can't say
that I had a lot of confidence
when the week began because
we got into a bit of a slump but
we managed to pull out of it and
get the win."
In qualifying, Krawiec had a
difficult time negotiating the At-
lanta Dragway surface although
he managed to make one clean
run to qualify second in the field
with a 6.880, behind Star Rac-
ing Buell's Angelle Sampey, who
earned the top spot for the first
time in more than a decade with
a 6.865.
Krawiec and his Vance &
Hines team continued to hone
their setup on race day and he
went on to claim wins against
Victory Gunner's Matt Smith,
rookie Melissa Surber and
Karen Stoffer, running a best of
6.847 in the process.
"The track was a bit tricky
for us," Krawiec said. "There
are a few bumps that throw the
bike around. My crew chief,
Matt Hines, went to work on
our chassis setup and managed
to get a little better each run.
It took us until the final before
we made what I'd really call a
good run but we managed to do
enough. It may not have been
the prettiest win but it was great
to be in the final of the first three
races."
With career win number
33, Krawiec is now tied with
the late John Myers, who won
three championships before his
untimely death in 1998. The im-
portance of that milestone was
not lost on Krawiec.
"It's flattering and it's hum-
bling," Krawiec said. "I never
thought I'd even get to race at
this level and now to have my
name on the same line as John
Meyers; that means a lot. When
you look at the rich history of
this class, John Myers and Dave
Schultz were two of the best.
They paved the way for the rest
of us."
Kevin McKenna
Eddie Krawiec collected is fourth
career victory at Atlanta Dragway.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KEVIN
MCKENNA
