Krawiec comes from behind for motorcycle drag racing championship
By the Staff of Clutch and Chrome
November 17th, 2008
It was a
dramatic finish to the motorcycle drag racing season with a
come-from-behind win for the championship.
Screamin’
Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec overcame a 20-point
deficit to win the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
championship at the season-ending Automobile Club of
Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway. The
championship is the fourth NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle title
in five seasons for the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson team.
“We are really excited to bring the championship back home
to Milwaukee,” said Krawiec. “I have to thank team owners
Byron Hines and Terry Vance, my crew chief Matt Hines and my
teammate Andrew Hines, and Anne Paluso and everyone at
Harley Davidson. We won this championship with hard
teamwork.”
 Krawiec
started the final weekend of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series in second place, 19 points behind NitroFish
Buell rider Matt Smith. Smith, the reigning Pro Stock
Motorcycle champion, gained a point on Krawiec by leading
all qualifiers for the event with a 6.967-second run.
Krawiec qualified second at 6.987 seconds.
Trailing Smith by 20 points – exactly one round of
eliminations – Krawiec started Sunday eliminations by
defeating Peggy Llewellyn in round one and then used a
0.019-second reaction time and 7.042 ET to narrowly defeat a
0.043/7.022 pass by Chip Ellis. Smith beat Mike Berry in the
first round, but saw his shot at a second title slip away
when his motorcycle broke during his second-round run
against Chris Rivas. That left Krawiec and Smith tied, with
Krawiec needing a win over his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines
teammate, Andrew Hines, to clinch the title in the
semi-final round. Krawiec (7.098) beat Hines (7.609) to win
the first NHRA title of his career. Krawiec had a chance to
cap the weekend with an event win, but his 7.009-second run
was not enough to beat a event-best 6.929 pass by Rivas.
“I’ll tell you, coming into the season I was hoping to get a
win or two, and finish in the top five in points,” said
Krawiec. “That didn’t happen, but we’ve been able to
accomplish something that’s only happened once before in
NHRA history. The level of competition is so high, but this
has always been a very consistent team, and that paid off
this season.”
Krawiec is only the second champion in NHRA history to win
his title without winning a national event. The 31-year-old
rider succeeded with consistency, making four final-round
appearances, reaching the semi-finals five times, and
posting the No.1 qualifying time at three events. He lost in
the first round just three times in 17 events. Krawiec won
the eight-rider Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle bonus event
at the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend.
Krawiec entered the five-race Countdown to One playoffs in
seventh place, 80 points behind first-place Smith, but was
runner-up in Charlotte to jump to fourth place. He reached
second place with a semifinal finish in Dallas then scored
back-to-back runner-ups in Richmond and Las Vegas to pull
within 19 points of Smith.
In 2007 Krawiec left his job as track manager at Old Bridge
Township Raceway in Englishtown, N.J., to race full-time for
the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team, and placed seventh
in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings that season. Krawiec
started motorcycle drag racing in the AMA Prostar series in
1999, where he won nine events and placed second in series
points in 2002 and 2003. He made his NHRA racing debut at
Englishtown in 2004. He now lives in Avon, Ind., near the
Vance & Hines race shop.
The championship is the fourth NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
title for the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team. Andrew
Hines rode a Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson to win the
title for three consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2006. The
Vance & Hines organization has now won 11 professional
motorcycle drag racing titles.
Andrew Hines won at Atlanta and Madison, Ill., in 2008, and
made three other final-round appearances during the season.
Hines was the No. 2 qualifier in the Countdown to One
playoffs and finished the season points race in fourth
place. Hines and crew chief Matt Hines also won the Full
Throttle Pit Crew Championship in the Pro Stock Motorcycle
division, which recognizes teams for performance and
consistency during qualifying over the course of the season
The 2008 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle final point standings: 1.
Eddie Krawiec, 2471; 2. Chris Rivas, 2466; 3. Matt Smith,
2451; 4. Andrew Hines, 2334; 5. Angelle Sampey, 2310.
Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts are inspired by and built
in the spirit of the raw adrenaline and power of motorcycle
racing. Screamin' Eagle Pro parts are specifically designed
for race-use applications, while Screamin' Eagle parts offer
street-use performance options for the
Harley-Davidson motorcycle
owner.
The Screamin'
Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team is sponsored
by Ford Truck, Dunlop, Matco Tools and S100. |
