KRAWIEC’S HOT HAND COMES TO SUDDEN END AT ROUTE 66 NATIONALS

[totalmotorcycle]

@KRAWIEC’S HOT HAND COMES TO SUDDEN END AT ROUTE 66 NATIONALS
Hines and @Harley-Davidson Hold @NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Points Lead

JOLIET, Ill. (June 29, 2014) – Harley-Davidson® Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec stormed through qualifying and posted the quickest Pro Stock Motorcycle run of Sunday eliminations, but saw his weekend come to end in round two when an electronic component failed and disabled his Harley-Davidson® V-Rod® motorcycle at Route 66 Speedway.

After blitzing to an Elapsed Time (ET) of 6.858 seconds in round one to defeat Nitro Fish Suzuki rider LE Tonglet, Krawiec came to the starting line to face Kandy Racing Buell rider Angie Smith in round two of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

“The throttle position sensor failed on my bike right in the burnout box,” said Krawiec. “I had to hold the throttle at about 80 percent just to keep the bike running. I had a great V-Rod under me all weekend, but that’s an electronic part and it can fail. Just bad racing luck for us today.”

Krawiec attempted to make the run but fouled at the start. He earned maximum bonus points by posting the quickest time in each of four qualifying rounds on Friday and Saturday, and paced the Pro Stock Motorcycle field with a time of 6.872 seconds.

Andrew Hines struggled with the performance of the team’s other Harley-Davidson V-Rod motorcycle, qualifying in seventh position at 6.983 seconds. Hines defeated Bad Boy Buggies Suzuki rider Jim Underdahl in the first round on Sunday, but then lost to Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr. in the second round.

“There’s an issue with my bike we just can’t track down,” said Hines. “We know it’s not the engine because it behaved the same after we swapped motors. We’ll just have to go back to the shop and start from scratch. I had a great light in round two and Arana just drove right by me.”

Arana Jr. defeated his father, Lucas Oil teammate Hector Arana Sr., in the final round to claim his first event win of the season.

Despite the disappointing weekend, Hines retains the lead in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle points, thanks to two event wins and three final-round appearances so far this season. After six of 16 events, Hines leads with 536 points. Krawiec is second with 515 points. Arana Jr. is third with 474 points, followed by Matt Smith Racing Buell rider John Hall with 371 points. Matt Smith is fifth with 361 points.

The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team will race again July 4-6 at the 8th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.