VOL. 53 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 P25
HINES CLAIMS
SECOND INDY TITLE
D
uring his career, Screamin' Eagle
Harley-Davidson's Andrew Hines has
won nearly 50 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcy-
cle titles and five world championships.
For all his success, Hines has just one
win at the sport's marque event—the U.S.
Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway India-
napolis—until now. Hines claimed his
second Indy title after Lucas Oil Buell's
Hector Arana Jr. left the starting line too
soon in the final round to trigger a red-light start.
Although Hines has now won five of the first 10
events of the season, his Indy win came as a bit
of a surprise since he was only the seventh-quick-
est qualifier in the field of 16 bikes.
"It's no secret that we've been struggling during
qualifying lately and that's something that we've
been working to correct," Hines said. "Even
this weekend, we were seventh and I knew the
potential of my Harley. We spent some time in
qualifying working to get the bike to leave the
starting line quicker and it seemed to help. The
bike was much better on race day and hopefully
that's something we can carry with us the rest of
the season."
Hines survived a close battle with up-and-com-
ing rookie Melissa Surber in round one and then
faced a tough opponent in White Alligator Suzuki's
Jerry Savoie, the defending U.S. Nationals win-
ner. Savoie rode to a 6.897, but he was slightly
behind Hines' 6.883 at the finish line. Hines
reached the final round with another tough win
against Nitro Fish Suzuki's LE Tonglet, but Arana
Jr. made it easy for him in the final round with the
red-light start. Hines would have been hard to
stop regardless, since he made his best pass of
the weekend in the final with a 6.862-second run.
"I knew I had a bike that could go rounds and
we just had to pick on it here and
there," Hines said. "We're getting
closer to something that will work
for us in the heat. We got to the
final round and figured out the
tune-up that needed to be in there.
I'm happy I made my best run of
the weekend in the final round."
Hines not only celebrated a win
at the sport's most prestigious
event, but he also got an added bonus when he
took over the top spot in the Countdown to the
Championship, NHRA's six race playoff to decide
season champions. The 2016 Countdown begins
at the next event in Charlotte and Hines will be the
top seed in the 10-bike field.
"Getting a win in Indy is huge because this
is my hometown and because it's our biggest
event," Hines said. "Then, to take the top spot in
the Countdown makes it even better. The extra
points that go with the number-one spot could
easily make the difference between winning the
championship or not winning it at the end of the
season."
In addition to Hines, the nine other riders in the
Countdown are Eddie Krawiec, Angelle Samey,
LE Tonglet, Hector Arana Sr., Chip Ellis, Cory
Reed, Matt Smith and Hector Arana Jr.
Kevin McKenna
Andrew Hines'
victory at the
U.S. Nationals
in Indianapolis
was made a
little easier
when Hector
Arana Jr.
triggered the
red light.
