Defending NHRA champion Eddie Krawiec did his best keep his Pro Stock Motorcycle crown by taking the race wins during the Auto Club NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle Drag Racing Finals this past weekend, but current points-leader Lucas Oil's Hector Arana maintained his points lead and collected his first NHRA Title.
Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiec couldn't overtake points-leader Hector Arana for the title, but Krawiec did take the win during the finals at Pomona.
Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Krawiec had a glimmer of hope of overcoming his points-deficient when Arana went out unexpectedly in Round 2 by red-lighting. During the semi-finals, Krawiec needed to beat fellow teammate, Andrew Hines and run at least 6.918 to gain the necessary points to squeak past Arana, but his 6.95 was nowhere near close enough.
Buell's Douglas Horne was up against Junior Pippin on the Harley-Davidson and it was Horne who advanced making it a
Buell vs. H-D finale. In the final round Horne red-lighted, but Krawiec was still two-points shy of Arana despite scoring the win.
“Last year, I was fortunate to come up here and not have the race win and have the championship, but this year I still am a very lucky person to be in here talking about getting the race win and not the championship. It came down to two points. It shows you how important qualifying is. We bobbled a little bit this weekend in qualifying, which ultimately could have cost us. We were trying to keep Hector from getting to that three-round deficit for us, and unfortunately for us, we didn’t, and it shows in the end. But our Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines
Harley Davidson bike has been running really well second half of the year. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to next year. This year’s behind us already, so looking forward to 2010,” said Krawiec after his win in the finals.
Hines finished third in the season behind Krawiec and Arana and is looking forward to the title chase in 2010. “We had a great end of the season,” said Hines. “Eddie won here and I won in Las Vegas. That’s good for team morale and it will have the other teams thinking about us all off-season. Personally, I improved from fourth to third this year, and I’m really happy about that. You can bet we’ll be working hard to get that title back in 2010.”
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Drag Racing Results
Auto Club Finals - Pomona, CA
Round Win/Loss Driver R-Time E-Time Speed
Final (W) Eddie Krawiec (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) 0.033 6.905 194.32
(L) Douglas Horne (Horne Racing Buell) -0.001(R) 6.955 191.40
Round 3 (W) Eddie Krawiec (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) 0.027 6.953 191.62
(L) Andrew Hines (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) -0.010(R) 6.968 191.62
(W) Douglas Horne (Horne Racing Buell) 0.012 6.940 192.55
(L) Junior Pippin (Stone Mtn & Granite Mtn HD) 0.043 7.045 187.34
Round 2 (W) Andrew Hines (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) -0.004(R) 7.044 192.69
(L) Hector Arana (Lucas Oil Buell) -0.012(R) 7.224 154.51
(W) Eddie Krawiec (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) 0.037 6.959 192.60
(L) Jim Underdahl 0.027 7.107 188.89
(W) Junior Pippin (Stone Mtn & Granite Mtn HD) 0.019 7.201 185.69
(L) Larry Cook -0.017(R) 7.072 169.98
(W) Douglas Horne (Horne Racing Buell) 0.017 6.993 191.35
(L) David Hope (VRoom Racing Buell) 0.018 7.028 187.70
Round 1 (W) David Hope (VRoom Racing Buell) 0.007 6.986 187.70
(L) Craig Treble 0.027 7.023 190.78
(W) Douglas Horne (Horne Racing Buell) 0.022 6.995 191.70
(L) Freddie Camarena 0.054 7.026 192.06
(W) Larry Cook 0.013 6.962 188.91
(L) Karen Stoffer (GEICO) -0.0139(R) 6.965 191.54
(W) Junior Pippin (Stone Mtn & Granite Mtn HD) 0.045 7.133 187.76
(L) Shawn Gann 0.044 7.318 185.97
(W) Jim Underdahl 0.026 7.059 191.29
(L) Matt Smith (Nitrofish Suzuki) 0.052 7.413 147.29
(W) Eddie Krawiec (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) 0.010 6.950 194.91
(L) Steve Johnson 0.031 6.977 191.19
(W) Andrew Hines (Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines) 0.018 6.977 192.82
(L) Michael Phillips (MPR & Damn Sport
Suzuki) 0.024 10.043 82.37
(W) Hector Arana (Lucas Oil Buell) 0.011 6.910 192.00
(L) Bailey Whitaker (Rum Bum Buell) 0.084 7.091 185.59
