Cycle News

IN THE WIND P38 TWO WEEKS, TWO WINS FOR KRAWEIC T he NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is only two rounds into its six-round playoff and Screamin' Eagle Harley- Davidson's Eddie Krawiec is already threatening to run away with the Pro Stock Motorcycle title. Seven days after winning in Charlotte, Krawiec scored again when he won in Reading, Pennsylvania, September 23-24. In the final, Krawiec rode to a 6.852 at 196.70 mph in the final round to defeat Nitro Fish Suzuki's LE Tonglet, one of his most competitive championship rivals. Krawiec now has five wins in 12 events, and has a sizable lead in the standings. "Things are definitely on the upswing since we switched back to last year's chassis; it's been huge for me and my team at the exact right time," Krawiec said. "We didn't start out as strong as we had hoped in quali- fying, but we put it all together today and we're pretty pleased with these results." Krawiec now has five wins in Reading and the Vance & Hines team as a whole has 10 victories in the last 21 years at the historic facility. For Krawiec, the victory was also the 41st of his career. "This is huge for me and for our whole team," Krawiec said. "There is not a better time to hit your stride than during the Countdown. Honestly, I don't think I've had a better month. It's kind of surreal and I don't want it to stop. I want to win all six races in the Countdown." Krawiec normally qualifies at or near the top of the pack but in Reading, he was only fourth quickest with a 6.841. Suzuki Extended Protection Suzuki's Scotty Pollacheck was the top qualifier for the first time in his career with a 6.822 with White Alligator Suzuki's Jerry Savoie close behind with a 6.824 and Lucas Oil Buell's Hector Arana Jr. in the third spot at 6.834. "We ran well [in qualifying] but we were struggling to get a hold of the track," Krawiec said. "The track was very good but we were missing the tune-up. Matt [Hines, crew chief] went to work on the clutch and Andrew [Hines] my teammate worked on the engine tuning and we came up with a package that was unstoppable." Krawiec had to race Hines in the second round of elimina- tions and came away with a 6.870 to 6.920 victory. He also earned race day wins against Kelly Clontz, and Pollacheck before taking on Tonglet in the final. Krawiec had a quick bike on race day, but also helped himself with consistent starting line reaction times. He used a holeshot to get past Pollacheck. "Having to race Andrew in the second round was not ideal," said Krawiec. "We certainly didn't draw it up that way. As for my riding, I tried to stay focused and do my job on the starting line. I kind of pride myself on my riding and for the first two Countdown races, I've done

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