June 28, 2004
Milwaukee, WI - The Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines drag racing team set a new national Pro Stock Bike ET record as rider Andrew Hines roared through eliminations to win the class at the 35th Annual K&N Filters Supernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway. The win was the third of the season and second in a row for Hines, who now has a 185-point lead in the Pro Stock Bike class after six events in the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
After a day of leading the class aboard his Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod, Hines had posted the three quickest times in the Pro Stock Bike record book, saving his best run for the final round, a 7.016-second blast at 192.28 mph. Hines defeated Craig Treble (7.138/186.59) to take the win.
“To run a bunch of 7.0’s all day, let alone set a national record, is just awesome,” Hines said. That last run was perfect.”
During qualifying, Hines led the way with a 7.078/189.60 pass, while his Screamin’ Eagle teammate, GT Tonglet, slotted into second at 7.161/188.15.
In the first round of eliminations Tonglet (7.113/189.31) easily handled Kurt Matte (7.445/148.62). Hines faced Karen Stoffer (7.219/184.67) in his first-round race and laid down his first record, a 7.020/192.08 that eclipsed the 7.049 ET mark established by Angelle Savoie at Englishtown on May 15, 2002.
Hines (7.070/191.76) marched through the second round, defeating Fred Collis (7.120/184.72). Tonglet (7.131/187.60) had a great run but lost with a red-light start that gave the win to Shawn Gann (7.193/186.05).
In round three, Hines (7.028/191.92) posted the second-quickest Pro Stock Bike run on record and defeated Steve Johnson (7.179/184.27) for the second week in a row to advance to the final round for the fourth time this season and the fifth time in his career.
Hines faced Craig Treble in the final before a grandstand packed with enthusiastic Harley-Davidson fans. Treble got off the line first with a 0.013 reaction time to 0.028 for Hines, but the Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod made up that difference in 150 feet and roared off to the win and a new national ET record. At the end of the weekend, Hines was top qualifier, set quickest ET and fastest top speed (192.28 mph) for the event, had the best reaction time (0.004 seconds), won the final round and set a new national record.
“This was quite a record-setting weekend for the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team, but our success so far this season is really the result of three years of development and hard work by Byron Hines and the crew,” said Screamin’ Eagle Racing Manager Anne Paluso. “They never gave up when we weren’t running up front.”
“It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come since the 2002 GatorNationals, when we didn’t even qualify,” said team owner Byron Hines. “It’s taken a tremendous amount of work and I take great pride in what this team has accomplished.”
After six rounds of NHRA Pro Stock Bike competition, Hines leads the class with 604 points, 185 points ahead of Gann, in second with 419 points. Tonglet is third with 393 points.
