Hines Wins NHRA Championship Aboard Harley V-Rod

Troy Siahaan
by Troy Siahaan

From a Harley-Davidson press release:

Ed Krawiec and Andrew Hines closed out the 2015 NHRA Pro Stock season as winners and champions. The former, aboard his Harley-Davidson V-Rod, won the Pro Stock Motorcycle final at the season-ending event in Pomona, California, while Hines successfully defended his NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle title, securing his fifth career world championship in the class.

Andrew Hines, the son of NHRA Hall of Famer Byron Hines and younger brother of three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Hines, is the first rider to win five Pro Stock Motorcycle titles since the late Dave Schultz reached that mark in 1994. Hines won four events during the 2015 season, including three in the six-race Countdown playoffs as he climbed from the third seed to take the title. Hines has 42 career wins, second place all-time in Pro Stock Motorcycle behind Schultz, who tallied 45 victories during his career.

Krawiec finished second in season points, 43 behind Hines, after starting the Countdown as the first seed. The final-round victory by Krawiec at Pomona was his fourth of the season and the 31st of his career. Krawiec has now appeared in eight consecutive final rounds at Pomona. Krawiec got a big win in round two over Jerry Savoie to help secure the championship for Hines, and then defeated his teammate in the semi-finals.

“My outstanding Harley-Davidson team did a great job of keeping me focused and keeping the pressure off of me this weekend,” said Hines, who at 32 years old is the youngest NHRA Pro to win five world championships. “My V-Rod was always on point. Having five championships is pretty awesome. Each one of my championships has been a unique experience. This is a really competitive class right now, and we struggled in the middle of the season. This is our team’s reward for all the late nights and hard work it took to get us back out front. The Harley team rises to the occasion every time.”

“It was a great weekend all-around for the Harley team,” said Krawiec, a three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion. “My V-Rod was fast today but lagged a little off the line until we made an adjustment for the final round and that’s what won it for me. Our combination of strong V-Rod motorcycles and a team with outstanding talent and deep experience is hard to beat. I’m always racing for another championship but it’s a happy ending when the team can send that world champion trophy back to Milwaukee.”

Troy Siahaan
Troy Siahaan

Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.

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