Andrew Hines padded his Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead with a run to the final round of eliminations at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park on Sunday. Hines lost the final to Jerry Savoie on the Savoie’s Alligator Farm Suzuki, but now holds a 57-point lead over his teammate Ed Krawiec in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs with three races left on the schedule
It was Krawiec who topped qualifying, posting a best Elapsed Time (E.T.) of 6.810 seconds to pace the Pro Stock Motorcycle field. Hines qualified fourth at 6.863 seconds.
In Sunday eliminations, Hines advanced to a semi-final match with Krawiec when both Kandy Racing Buell rider Angie Smith and Steve Johnson on the Billingsley Towing Suzuki fouled at the start line. Krawiec got wins over PiranaZ Racing Buell rider Shawn Gann and ProtecttheHarvest.com/MAVTV Buell rider Adam Arana. Hines used a 0.004 reaction time to squeeze out a hole-shot win over Krawiec to advance the final.
“For me personally, that win in the semi-finals over my closest rival was huge,” said Hines. “We had to change a valve spring between round two and three, and I really wondered how the engine would perform, so I went for a quick light and it worked out.”
In the final, Savoie combined a 0.005 reaction time and a 6.871 ET to best the 0.037/6.881 effort of Hines and win the first Pro Stock Motorcycle final-round match of his career.
After three of six Countdown events, Hines leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle class with 2,400 points. Krawiec is second with 2,343 points, followed by Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. with 2,256 points. Johnson is fourth with 2,253 points, followed by Nitro Fish Buell rider Matt Smith with 2,202 points.
The NHRA Countdown the Championship continues on Oct. 2-5 at the 30th annual NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa.
