SIXTH TIME IS THE CHARM FOR
KRAWIEC AT NHRA OPENER
F
or the sixth time in his career,
Screamin' Eagle Harley-
Davidson's Eddie Krawiec
scored a Pro Stock Motorcycle
victory at the season-opening
Amalie NHRA Gatornationals.
Krawiec claimed the 44th win of
his career following an all-Street
Rod final round against Andrew
Hines, his teammate. Hines was
first off the starting line by a
fraction of a second but Krawiec
quickly made up the difference
to win with a 6.824 elapsed
time to Hines' 6.853. Krawiec is
now 13-9 against Hines in final
rounds.
"We had a lot of fun in the final
because when it's Andrew and
I, there is no pressure," Krawiec
said. "Before we staged, I heard
him hit the gas a couple of times
and I thought, 'Okay, game on.'
At that point I knew that I wasn't
going to stage first. Honestly, I
didn't think he was going to mess
with me, but I know we put on a
good show for the fans.
"Right now, I have a lot of
confidence. Over the winter we
didn't make a lot of changes to
these Harley-Davidsons. We
know what we have and when
you have that sort of confidence,
you go up there thinking that
no one can beat you. In the
final, Andrew and I both made
slight tune-up changes to our
bikes. He went one way and I
went the other. We agreed to
try something different, so we
could learn. My bike happened
to respond to the change a bit
better than his did."
Krawiec was the No. 2 quali-
fier behind Hines and rode to
wins over world champs LE
Tonglet and Hector Arana Sr. He
also defeated Steve Johnson on
his way to a third-straight win in
Gainesville. Hines also enjoyed a
solid season debut with victories
against Mark Paquette, Liberty
Racing's Angelle Sampey, and
Scotty Pollacheck.
The factory Harley team nearly
ran the table in Gainesville but
the one thing they did not get
was the sport's first 200-mph
pass. That honor went to Lu-
cas Oil EBR's Hector Arana
Jr. Seven years after Krawiec
first topped 199-mph, Arana Jr.
rode the sleek, new EBR to a
200.23-mph pass on Friday. He
later improved to a 201.01 run
on Saturday. For being the first
over 200, he was rewarded with
a $10,000 bonus from Denso
Spark Plugs as the inaugural
member of their 200-mph club.
Membership will be limited to the
first four riders who eclipse the
barrier at an NHRA event.
Kevin McKenna
1. Eddie Krawiec (H-D)
2. Andrew Hines (H-D)
IN
THE
WIND
P40
Eddie Krawiec got the 2018 NHRA
Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship
started with a win at Gainesville.
