HINES WINS RINGERS GLOVES PRO BIKE BATTLE
Andrew Hines beat the Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying leader and bonus event top seed Hector Arana in the final round at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis to earn the $25,000 payday for the special event that features the eight best bike teams from the last year.
Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations
Dixon, Hight, Edwards and Arana continue to lead Mac Tools U.S. Nationals qualifying
INDIANAPOLIS
– Andrew Hines raced to the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle victory for
the fourth time in his career Saturday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most prestigious drag race.
Hines
beat the Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying leader and bonus event top
seed Hector Arana in the final round at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park
at Indianapolis to earn the $25,000 payday for the special event that
features the eight best bike teams from the last year.
Hines
took the win on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
when Arana fouled at the start on his Lucas Oil Buell.
“I
can’t tell you what this means to me,” said Hines, who also scored
Ringers titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007. “It was tough to see Hector go
red but as soon as I saw my win light on, I thought to myself, 'I just
won 25 grand.’ With the economy being what it is, this really does a
lot for our team. To
win this race four times is also special. The only other riders who
have done that are my brother, Matt, and John Myers. John was my idol
and to be a member of that club really means a lot to me.”
In
other racing, Larry Dixon, Robert Hight and Mike Edwards joined Arana
in maintaining their No. 1 qualifying positions at the NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series event, the final race of the regular
season. Sunday’s final qualifying sessions are at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30
p.m. and Monday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m. The top 10 teams in
each pro category following this event will compete in the six-race
Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs.
Dixon continued to lead Top Fuel qualifying order with his performance of 3.850 at 306.81 from Friday.
"I
have egg on my face, because I said [Friday night] that the 3.85
wouldn't hold up," Dixon said. "I really thought that it would take an
.80 or an .81 to take the pole tonight. There were a whole lot of .85s,
and we just happened to be on the right side of them. We were trying to
run a low-.80 as I'm sure a lot of other guys were, but for one reason
or another it didn't work. We're going to run in race day-type of
conditions tomorrow and work on our setup. I feel very fortunate to be
low right now. Unless something crazy happens tomorrow, it might hold
up."
Hight
posted a 4.082 at 308.35 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang to pace the
Funny Car qualifying order. His three other teammates, Ashley Force
Hood, Mike Neff and team owner John Force, completed the top four.
“First
off, 1, 2, 3, and 4 for our John Force Ford Mustangs -- that’s never
happened,” Hight said. “We’ve had it lined up before, and someone’s
messed it up. It could get messed up tomorrow, trust me, but we’re 1,
2, 3, and 4 going into tomorrow at the biggest race of the year, that’s
an accomplishment. It’s still not over yet because they’re calling for
some clouds tomorrow, and if we have cloud cover, NHRA’s done a great
job on this racetrack and there’s going to be a lot of 4.0s tomorrow.
It could even shuffle tomorrow, the top spots."
Edwards clocked a 6.581 at 209.01 in his ART/Young Life Pontiac GXP in Pro Stock.
“This
morning’s run, condition-wise, was better; tonight was a little more
humid,” Edwards said. “We made another great run this morning, but then
we had a misfortune with the engine and changed it. We were still low
of the round, but it wasn’t quite what we wanted. We’re
still real confident. These engines are all so close. It’s
disheartening to break an engine because it’s so expensive, but there’s
no worry about this engine. It’s the one I won with in Seattle. It
won’t be a late night for us, but we do have the broken motor on the
way back to the shop and a new motor on the way here. We’ll have it by
tomorrow; we will be prepared, and I think in the morning, that will be
the session. Whatever you can do, you better do it then.”
Arana led Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.936 at 191.89 on his Lucas Oil Buell.
* * *
INDIANAPOLIS
-- Results Saturday after the first three of five rounds of qualifying
for the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at
O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, 18th of 24 events in the NHRA
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Sunday for
Monday's final eliminations.
Top
Fuel -- 1. Larry Dixon, 3.850 seconds, 306.81 mph; 2. Cory McClenathan,
3.851, 311.63; 3. Antron Brown, 3.852, 314.39; 4. Tony Schumacher,
3.855, 313.51; 5. Morgan Lucas, 3.859, 314.61; 6. Doug Kalitta, 3.877,
315.12; 7. Pat Dakin, 3.880, 312.21; 8. Rod Fuller, 3.888, 310.63; 9.
David Grubnic, 3.902, 313.07; 10. Shawn Langdon, 3.904, 310.27; 11.
Brandon Bernstein, 3.908, 308.78; 12. Terry Haddock, 3.914, 300.60. Not
Qualified: 13. Joe Hartley, 3.919, 289.76; 14. Bruce Litton, 3.931,
307.37; 15. Clay Millican, 3.935, 309.56; 16. Spencer Massey, 3.942,
306.81; 17. T.J. Zizzo, 3.945, 301.74; 18. Troy Buff, 3.950, 291.32;
19. Del Cox Jr, 3.978, 300.80; 20. Ron August, 4.037, 288.21; 21. Chris
Karamesines, 4.169, 234.94; 22. Luigi Novelli, 5.413, 121.01.
Funny
Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.082, 308.35; 2. Ashley Force
Hood, Mustang, 4.093, 309.20; 3. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.093, 308.85; 4.
John Force, Mustang, 4.107, 307.09; 5. Del Worsham, Toyota Solara,
4.109, 303.98; 6. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.124, 303.84; 7. Bob Tasca
III, Mustang, 4.126, 302.69; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.128, 303.78;
9. Jim Head, Solara, 4.143, 304.46; 10. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala,
4.147, 300.93; 11. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.171, 299.46; 12. Jeff
Arend, Solara, 4.184, 297.55. Not Qualified: 13.
Jack Beckman, 4.184, 296.89; 14. Ron Capps, 4.225, 292.65; 15. Bob
Bode, 4.237, 290.69; 16. Brian Thiel, 4.238, 294.63; 17. Jerry Toliver,
4.254, 284.45; 18. Grant Downing, 4.310, 227.27; 19. Justin Schriefer,
6.436, 102.70.
Pro
Stock -- 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.581, 209.01; 2. Jason Line,
GXP, 6.620, 208.23; 3. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.630, 207.88; 4. Allen
Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.633, 207.91; 5. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.635,
208.30; 6. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.637, 207.78; 7. Ron Krisher, Chevy
Cobalt, 6.641, 207.78; 8. Ryan Ondrejko, GXP, 6.641, 206.95; 9. Vinnie
Deceglie, Stratus, 6.646, 207.37; 10.Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.647,
207.72; 11. Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.650, 208.04; 12. Rodger Brogdon,
GXP, 6.650, 207.85. Not Qualified: 13. Larry
Morgan, 6.655, 207.56; 14. Steve Spiess, 6.656, 207.21; 15. Warren
Johnson, 6.661, 207.94; 16. John Nobile, 6.665, 206.95; 17. Rickie
Jones, 6.667, 207.02; 18. Kurt Johnson, 6.675, 207.43; 19. Justin
Humphreys, 6.687, 205.47; 20. Matt Hartford, 6.691, 206.80; 21. Bob
Benza, 6.703, 205.22; 22. Steve Schmidt, 6.709, 204.85; 23. V. Gaines,
6.727, 204.60; 24. Jim Cunningham, 6.753, 203.83; 25. Kevin Lawrence,
6.793, 202.82; 26. Mark Buehring, 6.816, 202.03; 27. Mark Hogan, 6.819,
203.92; 28. Frank Gugliotta, 6.819, 201.43; 29. John Gaydosh Jr, 6.822,
201.97; 30. Erica Enders, 6.823, 201.46; 31. Dave River, 6.963, 196.53.
Pro
Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.936, 191.89; 2. Andrew
Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.957, 192.66; 3. Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.968,
190.65; 4. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.979, 189.66; 5. LE Tonglet, Suzuki,
7.015, 186.77; 6. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.016, 187.91; 7. Eddie
Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.018, 188.57; 8. Michael Phillips, Suzuki,
7.023, 191.46; 9. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.023, 186.30; 10. Chip Ellis,
Suzuki, 7.028, 187.47; 11. Bailey Whitaker, Buell, 7.066, 186.54; 12.
Douglas Horne, Buell, 7.087, 187.31. Not
Qualified: 13. Angie McBride, 7.090, 184.37; 14. Wesley Wells, 7.099,
187.16; 15. Jim Underdahl, 7.099, 187.00; 16. Craig Treble, 7.102,
188.49; 17. Junior Pippin, 7.122, 183.87; 18. David Hope, 7.140,
182.23; 19. Redell Harris, 7.167, 183.02; 20. Joe DeSantis, 7.176,
185.82; 21. Mike Berry, 7.186, 181.40; 22. GT Tonglet, 7.196, 183.69;
23. Katie Sullivan, 7.197, 183.27; 24. Geoff Godfrey, 7.752, 164.25.
* * *
INDIANAPOLIS
-- Final round-by-round results from the 18th annual Ringers Gloves Pro
Bike Battle at Indianapolis Raceway Park, a special event for Pro Stock
Motorcycle held during the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
presented by Lucas Oil, the 18th of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series:
PRO BIKE BATTLE:
ROUND ONE -- Matt Smith, Suzuki, 6.968, 190.57 def. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.023, 186.30; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.056,
184.42
def. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.104, 188.49; Andrew Hines,
Harley-Davidson, 6.973, 192.38 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.016,
187.91; Hector Arana, Buell, 6.936, 191.89 def. Matt Guidera, Buell,
7.037, 184.85;
SEMIFINALS -- Hines, 6.957, 192.66 def. Krawiec, 7.018, 188.57; Arana, 7.022, 190.70 def. Smith, foul;
FINAL -- Hines, 6.970, 192.58 def. Arana, foul.
