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/739653
IN THE WIND P24 KRAWIEC TAKES OVER IN DALLAS NHRA W ith three races remain- ing in the battle for the 2016 NHRA Pro Stock Motor- cycle Championship, Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's Eddie Krawiec needed a big effort to remain in championship conten- tion and he got it with a thrill- ing victory in Dallas, October 15-16. Krawiec greatly improved his odds of winning a third title following a final-round win over White Alligator Suzuki's Jerry Savoie. Krawiec entered the Dallas race 38 points behind his teammate, Andrew Hines, but surged to a 17-point lead after claiming his fifth win of the season. "Like I've said, I try not to focus on the points, and the way that I look at it is if you just do your job, you go out, you win races, you win rounds, and you can win championships," Krawiec said. "I'm just trying to stay really focused and race my own race and try and get the job done on Sunday. That's the key—four good green lights and have a good consistent motor- cycle under you. My crew chief, Matt Hines, and Andrew both— Andrew was tuning on my bike after he went out—did a great job. To have a good group of individuals standing behind you like that speaks volumes." Krawiec was only third-quick- est in qualifying behind Savoie and Hines, but he took care of business on race day with early wins against Karen Stoffer, Lucas Oil Buell's Hector Arana Sr., and Nitro Fish Suzuki's LE Tonglet, the 2010 NHRA champ. Krawiec easily out-ran his first three opponents, but the final against Savoie was won on a holeshot. Krawiec got off the starting line first and ran a 6.88, which was enough to hold off Savoie's quicker 6.85-second run. It was a rematch of last year's Dallas final with Krawiec turning the tables on Savoie. "Anytime you've got to race [Savoie], you've got to be focused," Krawiec said. "As a matter of fact, you have to be focused for just about anybody out there. When you look at this category as a whole right now, it's some of the best racing that there could be. You see LE [Tonglet] came up from nowhere and took Andrew out, then I've got to run him, and we run almost neck and neck with each other. You have to be on your game every single round here, no matter who you're racing and who's in that other lane." Heading into the penultimate race in Las Vegas, Krawiec has a 17-point advantage over Hines in the standings but the battle for the championship is far from a two-horse race. Savoie is still alive in third, 49-points out of the lead and three-time NHRA Champion Angelle Sampey is also still very much in conten- tion, just 60-points behind Krawiec. "We're going to have a heck of a gunfight rolling into Ve- gas and Pomona here," said Krawiec. "I never thought it was going to be like this, but ulti- mately, all the fans are going to win, and they're going to see a good ol' gunfight." Kevin McKenna Eddie Krawiec moved into the points lead with a big win in Dallas.