HINES AND SCREAMIN' EAGLE V-ROD WIN AGAIN AT GATEWAY

MADISON, Ill. (May 4, 2008) - Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines rode a Harley-Davidson V-Rod to his second Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season at the 12th Annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol at Gateway International Raceway. Hines defeated NitroFish/Torco Buell rider Matt Smith in the final round to take his second consecutive win of the season and the 15th of his career. Four races into the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season, Hines has appeared in three final rounds, has two wins, and leads the series by 56 points.

“Four races and three finals and two wins, it's just a tribute to how good my team is,” said Hines. “They like being on top and they're giving me a motorcycle underneath me to be there a lot this year. It's so fun right now. There's a lot of work back at the shop for the guys and they're just trying to dig and scrape and find anything they can to help us out. This is a perfect way to go into a month-off swing. It's going to be fun once we get to Chicago. Everybody else in the class is going to go home and do their homework. At this point last year we went out and made 40 test runs and went out and won Chicago. We plan on doing the same thing. We're not going to slack off any bit, we're just going to enjoy this win right now.”

Hines qualified third for the event with a pass of 6.943 seconds, behind Chip Ellis (6.907) and Smith, who lead the field with a pass of 6.901. Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiec was right behind Hines, qualifying fourth at 6.945.

Hines opened Sunday’s elimination rounds with an event-best 6.875 pass to beat Joe DeSantis, and then defeated Karen Stoffer and Ellis to reach the final. Krawiec beat Mike Berry and Angelle Sampey before losing to Smith on the starting line in the semi-final round, as both riders posted 6.965 runs down the track. In the final, Smith and Hines left the line together but Smith’s bike faltered down the track and Hines collected the win, 6.882 to 8.098. Hines has now posted 16 consecutive six-second runs.

The win by Hines and a first-round loss by Matt Guidera shuffled the points standings after four rounds in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Hines leads with 405 points, followed by Smith with 349, and Chip Ellis with 325. Guidera, who was second coming into Gateway, drops to fourth with 296 points. Krawiec is sixth with 220 points. NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles will race next at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals, June 5-8 at Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Ill.

Used with permission from H-D®.