Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec took a big step closer to securing the 2017 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship with a final-round win at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Krawiec can clinch his fourth NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship by qualifying for the elimination rounds at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. on Nov. 8.
Riding a thundering Harley-Davidson Street Rod competition motorcycle, Krawiec has now won four of five 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoff events and will hold a 150-point lead when qualifying begins for Pomona.
“I told my guys this weekend we just need to stay focused and get through the race,” said Krawiec. “We capitalized on every round and came out further ahead from where we started. The team put me on a great Harley-Davidson Street Rod today. All I had to do was stay on top of it.”
Krawiec was the top qualifier at Las Vegas with an Elapsed Time (ET) of 6.936 seconds at 191.76 mph, the 37th time he has topped with qualifying list in his career. Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines, also on a Harley-Davidson Street Rod drag bike, qualified fourth at 6.955 seconds and 193.82 mph.
The team’s Street Rod competition drag bikes are based on the Harley-Davidson® Street Rod™ production motorcycle, an agile middle-weight powered by the liquid-cooled High Output Revolution X 750 engine tuned for maneuvering through traffic and congestion.
Racing before a sold-out crowd on Sunday, Hines scored a win in the first round of eliminations but lost in round two. Krawiec used consistent reaction times and the strong performance of his well-sorted Street Rod to advance through the field and score his seventh win in eight final-round appearances during the 2017 season, and his third win at Las Vegas. Krawiec also posted the top Pro Stock Motorcycle speed of the event at 194.24 mph. With the 43rd Pro Stock Motorcycle win of his career Krawiec moved into third place on the career wins list behind the late Dave Schultz (45 wins) and Hines (47 wins).
After five of six rounds in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Krawiec leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings with 2,628 points. Hines is in third place with 2,427 points.
The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing team will close out the 2017 season on November 8-11 at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif.
