Concord, N.C. Sept. 17—Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec leads the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs after winning the Pro Stock Motorcycle final at the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
In an all-Harley final round, Krawiec defeated his Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines teammate Andrew Hines in the first head-to-head face-off of the new Harley-Davidson Street Rod competition drag bikes. Krawiec scored the 40th win of his career on Sunday while setting the low ET (6.826 seconds) and fastest top speed (197.74 mph) of the event for Pro Stock Motorcycle eliminations.
“We are racing a couple of great Street Rod drag bikes right now,” said Krawiec, who won for the fourth time in five final-round appearances this season. “They are handling well, they are fast and most importantly they are smooth and consistent. We can race round after round and know exactly how these bikes will react. If we maintain this performance we will be a force through the playoffs.”
The Street Rod competition drag bikes are based on the Harley-Davidson Street Rod production motorcycle, an agile middle-weight powered by the liquid-cooled High Output Revolution X 750 engine tuned for maneuvering through urban traffic and congestion.
In a weekend dominated by the two Harley racers, Hines secured the top qualifying position with a best elapsed time (ET) of 6.825 seconds at 196.50 mph. Krawiec qualified his Street Rod drag bike second at 6.836 seconds and 195.00 mph. On Sunday, Krawiec and Hines battered the Pro Stock Motorcycle field, and for the 20th time the two former champions lined up to face each other in a final round battle. On this afternoon, Krawiec prevailed with a 6.850-second blast to better the 6.911-second pass posted by Hines.
After the first of six rounds in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Krawiec leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle class with 2,202 points. Hines is in fourth place with 2,144 points.
The Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing team returns to action September 22–24 at the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
