August 6, 2004
Sonoma, CA - The Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines drag racing team put riders GT Tonglet and Andrew Hines in the Pro Stock Bike elimination rounds and saw Hines advance to the semi-finals and pad his season-points lead at the 17th Annual Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. Hines also rode his Screamin� Eagle V-Rod to a new Pro Stock Bike track-record top speed of 196.13 mph during qualifying.
Hines landed in the number-three qualifying slot, with a best run of 7.100 seconds at 196.13 mph. Tonglet qualified ninth with a best run of 7.139/194.86. Angelle Savoie ran 7.084/188.10 to take the top qualifying position.
In the first round of eliminations, Tonglet (7.160/191.46) used a 0.040-second reaction time to beat Steve Johnson�s quicker but losing run (7.124/182.62), due to a slower reaction time of 0.089. Hines (7.098/189.31) beat Redell Harris (7.288/182.90), and both Screamin� Eagle riders advanced to round two.
In the second round, Tonglet (7.137/183.72) fell to the red-hot Savoie (7.085/188.49). Hines (7.097/187.96) used his quickest run of the weekend to dispatch Karen Stoffer (7.121/188.31) and move on to the semi-finals.
A red-light start foiled Hines in the next round, a result made doubly disappointing when Brown stalled his bike just off the starting line. The jumped start by Hines handed the win to Brown, and Hines missed a chance to make his fourth final-round appearance of the season. Savoie won the final when Brown jumped the start by just 0.001 second to hand the win to his US Army teammate.
�Red lights are part of the game for everybody, especially after the second round on Sunday,� said Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso. �It was a good result and we�ve got both riders in the top-ten in points with Andrew leading the class. Byron Hines and the team are still figuring out the extra 40 pounds mandated by NHRA just three races ago, but if we can keep the team consistent, we�ll be in good shape for the championship.�
Hines� performance at Infineon helped boost his lead in NHRA Pro Stock Bike season points. After nine of 15 rounds, Hines leads with 809 points, 169 points clear of Shawn Gann, who is second with 640 points. Savoie�s win helped her jump from sixth place to third, with 595 points. Brown is fourth with 573 points, followed by Craig Treble with 566 points and Tonglet with 532 points.
The next Pro Stock Bike event on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series is the 23rd Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Aug. 12-15, at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
