HINES COMPLETES REGULAR SEASON SWEEP; BREAKS H-D INDY JINX

Now, Andrew Hines can check winning the U.S. Nationals off his bucket list.

Hines, who rides the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, beat Hector Arana Sr. to claim the prestigious title at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Hines clocked a 6.937-second run at 191.70 mph to defeat Arana Sr. who slowed to 7.456 seconds because of engine problems.

“This is really satisfying,” said Hines, who made his NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle debut in 2002. “Minus one year of my career, I have raced every year here (at Indy) on a Harley. For us to struggle like we did here with inconsistency and tuning and riding and every scenario possibly you can imagine to finally get the Indy win and stand in the U.S. Nationals winner’s circle is something I can look back on years from now.”

Hines actually won Indy times four times before Sunday, but those wins all came in bonus races.

“I had found the winner’s circle here four times with the Pro Stock battle and to actually stand there with the U.S. Nationals trophy means the world to me,” said Hines, who won Pro Stock Motorcycle world championships from 2004-2006.

Hines’ victory capped a perfect regular season for he and his Harley-Davidson teammate Eddie Krawiec.

Krawiec, the reigning world champ, and Andrew have combined to win all 10 of NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle national events this season. Krawiec has six wins and Hines has four. This actually was the 12th win in a row for the Harley riders dating back to the 2011 Last Vegas fall race.

“We remained undefeated in the regular season and we are looking to continue our streak,” Hines said. “Charlotte and Dallas are two tracks I have never won at, those are the last two on my list there. Luckily we were able to come in here (Indy) and keep our streak going, but it is a whole new deal with the Countdown.”

Krawiec is now 30 points in front of second place Hines. The point standings were reset after Indy as the six-race Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 14-16 at Charlotte, N.C., followed by Dallas Sept. 20-23.

“Luckily my motorcycle has finally turned the corner where we can tune on it and have fun with it,” Hines said. “This win is something very, very different for our team because my main mechanic Scott (Sceurman) is not here this weekend, so I was turning on a lot of the Matco tools wrenches on the bike and trying to make this thing go up and down the track.”

On Saturday, Hines said Sceurman’s 2-year-old niece died recently and he was in San Francisco this weekend.

Hines defeated Dawn Minturn, Karen Stoffer, and Hector Arana Jr., before meeting Arana Sr. in the finals.

“My hands were a little numb up there on the starting line because of the nerves and the high blood pressure,” said Hines about  his feelings headed into  the final round. “To finally get this win here with all our co-workers in the stands and all my family here is a totally surreal feeling.”

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