Indianapolis, Sep. 4—Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec used a Harley-Davidson Street Rod competition motorcycle to crush the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle field at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Krawiec was the top qualifier for the prestigious Labor Day weekend event, heading the class with a 6.822-second elapsed time. In Monday’s elimination rounds Krawiec set the quickest time of the day with a 6.842-second blast at 196.56 mph in round one and then proceeded to charge through the field. His final-round win was the third of the season for the three-time world champion and the 39th of his career.
“This was a really big win for us,” said Krawiec. “We showed the rest of the field that we have our new chassis figured out and we’ll be bringing two very fast Harley Street Rods to the Countdown. We are here to play and they better be ready.”
Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines qualified second at 6.825 seconds and advanced to the second round of eliminations on Monday. Hines set the top Pro Stock Motorcycle speed of the Indy weekend when his Street Rod race bike was clocked at 197.22 mph
Krawiec and Hines have both secured slots in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, open to the top ten racers in each NHRA class. Krawiec is the number two Pro Stock Motorcycle seed for the Countdown and Hines, a five-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, is seeded sixth.
The Harley-Davidson Street Rod production motorcycle is an agile middle-weight powered by the liquid-cooled High Output Revolution X750 engine tuned for maneuvering through traffic and congestion. The new Harley-Davidson Street Rod drag bikes made their racing debut at the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown, New Jersey in June.
“This was the perfect weekend to get the new Street Rod bikes dialed in,” said Krawiec. “We’ve been making chassis adjustments for the past three races and it’s finally starting to click for us. It’s great to be hot heading into the Countdown and racing for another championship for Harley-Davidson.”
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points will reset for the Countdown, which is held over the final six races of the season. Krawiec will start the Pro Stock Motorcycle playoffs in second place with 2,080 points, 30 points out of first place. Hines is seeded sixth with 2,040 points.
The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing team will begin the Countdown playoffs September 15–17 at the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.