Hines, who turned 21 in just his second full season racing at the Pro Stock level, becomes the youngest professional champion in NHRA history. The Pro Stock Bike championship is the first for the three-year-old Screamin� Eagle/Vance & Hines team, the first by a Harley-Davidson factory-supported NHRA drag-racing effort and the first won by a V-Twin-powered motorcycle. The title is also the 21st NHRA national championship earned in 27 seasons of motorcycle drag racing competition by the respected Vance & Hines organization.

�This is an outstanding accomplishment for my dad (Byron) and the entire team,� said Andrew Hines. �To take this Harley-Davidson program and build it to a championship level this fast is really something. I�m really proud to be associated with this outstanding team and I�m fortunate to add my name to the Vance & Hines roster of champions. We are determined to keep this championship in 2005.�

Andrew Hines is the son of legendary motorcycle tuner Byron Hines, who guides the Screamin� Eagle/Vance & Hines team, and is the younger brother of three-time NHRA Pro Stock Bike champion Matt Hines. Older brother Matt is crew chief of the Screamin� Eagle/Vance & Hines team and was previously the NHRA�s youngest champion when he claimed his first title in 1997 at the age of 25. Andrew lives in Indianapolis and works beside his brother and father at the Vance & Hines shop there.

�It was a real challenge and we overcame a lot of problems along the way,� said Byron Hines. �But working side by side with my sons to meet the high expectations of Harley-Davidson and the rest of the team is an experience I�ll never forget.�

�Winning championships isn�t just about winning races,� said team owner Terry Vance. �It�s about being consistent week in and week out. Congratulations are in order for the entire team for this accomplishment.�

Pomona Results Hines, who only needed to qualify for the 16-bike eliminations field to lock up the championship, faced some adversity and survived a scary moment during the qualifying rounds. In the first round of qualifying, he had oil pressure problems which forced him to shut down early. In the second round, his cam belt broke, and although he was still able to complete the pass and qualify 14th, the team was worried he would be bumped out of the field by faster qualifiers. Hines had a tense moment in the third round of qualifying when his final drive chain broke at high speed. The broken chain destroyed the rear tire, bodywork, wheeliebar and other critical parts on his Screamin� Eagle V-Rod and left him with some bruising and a sore ankle.

�The chain broke at the 300-foot mark, but didn�t start tearing things up until just before the finish line,� said Hines. �Fortunately we had a display bike with us and we were able to use those parts to fix my bike.�

After the team scrambled to repair his bike, Hines secured the championship during the final round of qualifying on Saturday with a run of 7.184/185.23, which placed him comfortably in the field with the 12th qualifying spot.

Teammate GT Tonglet qualified his Screamin� Eagle V-Rod fifth with a run of 7.115 seconds and 194.66 mph, good for a new track record top speed.

On Sunday, Hines and Tonglet lined up against each other in the first round, with Tonglet narrowly edging out the newly crowned champion with a perfect reaction time (RT) of 0.000 and a winning, but slower, elapsed time of 7.165 seconds versus 7.164 seconds with a 0.029 RT for Hines.

Tonglet faced Angelle Savoie in the second round but his 7.215/185.74 run fell short of her 7.138/185.95 pass. Savoie (7.036/188.04) went on to win the final in a showdown with her U.S. Army teammate Antron Brown (7.141/184.67).

Hines, who won three of 14 events and was top qualifier at seven events, ended the season with 1184 points, followed by Savoie with 1146 and Brown with 1131. Tonglet finished sixth with 855 points.

Season Recap: Early Success and Challenges The Screamin� Eagle/Vance & Hines team, behind riders Andrew Hines and GT Tonglet, roared to a quick start on the 2004 NHRA season. Both riders piloted Screamin� Eagle V-Rod motorcycles to the final round of eliminations at the first race of the season, the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals on March 21 in Gainesville, Fla., where Hines beat his teammate to become the first Harley-Davidson rider to win a NHRA Pro Stock Bike race. Hines won the Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, on June 13 to take his second victory of the season. On June 20, Hines led every aspect of the Pro Stock Bike competition during the K&N; Filters Supernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway near Englishtown, N.J. At that event, the Screamin� Eagle rider 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 Pro Stock Bike ET record of 7.016 seconds, eclipsing the 7.049-second ET record set by Angelle Savoie in 2002.

Just two days after the triumph at Englishtown, the NHRA imposed an unprecedented mid-season rules adjustment on the Pro Stock Bike class, adding 40 pounds to the minimum weight of V-Twin-powered bikes which included the Harley-Davidson V-Rods campaigned by the Screamin� Eagle/Vance & Hines team. The new rule was effective June 25 at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, leaving the team with no time to test with the new weight aboard the bikes. Despite this challenge, both Tonglet and Hines qualified for the elimination rounds. As the season wore on, the team was able to adjust to the added weight and continued to put both riders in the elimination rounds of each event. Hines advanced to the semi-final round of eliminations at six consecutive events, a level of consistency that preserved his early-season points lead and ultimately earned the championship.

A late-season highlight for the team came Sept. 4 at the 50th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, when Tonglet and Hines advanced to the final round of the K & N Filter Pro Bike Klash, a special bonus event for riders who qualified based on points earned during the past year. Hines beat Tonglet in a crowd-pleasing final round, and the riders agreed to split a combined purse of $20,000.

�All of us at Harley-Davidson are extremely proud of this team and their accomplishments,� said Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso. �Both GT and Andrew will be back riding the Screamin� Eagle V-Rods next year and we look forward to defending our first NHRA Pro Stock Bike championship.�