HINES KEY TO SUCCESS - CONSISTENCY
Tue, 2008-05-06 12:29
Andrew Hines has made sixteen consecutive runs in the six-second zone. Such actions speak volumes
about consistency. They also lead to the winner’s circle too.
Hines won his fifteenth national event title in St. Louis in repelling a determined effort from the defending NHRA Midwest Nationals champion Matt Smith.
“We are just going straight and making good runs,” Hines said. “This is the same engine we ran in Atlanta and we tried a new one on Friday and it just didn’t have enough ponies. We put the Atlanta engine back in because we wanted to qualifying No. 1 and just couldn’t find the combination. We were just making too much horsepower. Our runs on Saturday just ripped through the clutch. We were loaded for bear and it got kind of ugly.”
Hines estimated he could have gone to number one qualifier if the bike had run better in the first sixty-feet. If Hines had pulled off the No. 1 qualifier, he would have been the fourth consecutive top qualifier to win an event in 2008.
Instead, he won from the third spot. Andrew Hines has made sixteen consecutive runs in the six-second zone. Such actions speak volumes
about consistency. They also lead to the winner’s circle too.
Hines won his fifteenth national event title in St. Louis in repelling a determined effort from the defending NHRA Midwest Nationals champion Matt Smith.
“We are just going straight and making good runs,” Hines said. “This is the same engine we ran in Atlanta and we tried a new one on Friday and it just didn’t have enough ponies. We put the Atlanta engine back in because we wanted to qualifying No. 1 and just couldn’t find the combination. We were just making too much horsepower. Our runs on Saturday just ripped through the clutch. We were loaded for bear and it got kind of ugly.”
Hines estimated he could have gone to number one qualifier if the bike had run better in the first sixty-feet. If Hines had pulled off the No. 1 qualifier, he would have been the fourth consecutive top qualifier to win an event in 2008.
Instead, he won from the third spot.
“To be the first to win from something other than the top is special,” Hines admitted. “Four races, three finals and two wins provide a tribute to how good my team is. They like being on top and they’ve put a motorcycle under me capable of doing it.”
Hines attributes his success to the hard work being put in back at their Vance & Hones shop in Brownsburg, Indiana.
“They are trying to dig and scrap and get anything they can to help us out,” Hines said. “We have a month off, so this is the perfect time to head into that swing. It’s going to be fun once we get to Chicago.”
Chances are when Hines gets there he will be racing under a different set of specifications. The NHRA technical department has made frequent changes to the different combinations in an effort to maintain parity.
The unspoken 6.90 “break-out” was breached by both the Harley-Davidson and Buell teams over the course of the St. Louis weekend.
Suzuki came within .003 in qualifying.
“We weren’t expecting the 6.87 although the atmospheric conditions were there for it,” Hines said. “When I came around the corner after the run, no one would tell me what I ran. The conditions were there for us to go fast. If everyone is going fast, it just makes the class look good.”
Andrew Hines has made sixteen consecutive runs in the six-second zone. (Roger Richards)
Hines won his fifteenth national event title in St. Louis in repelling a determined effort from the defending NHRA Midwest Nationals champion Matt Smith.
“We are just going straight and making good runs,” Hines said. “This is the same engine we ran in Atlanta and we tried a new one on Friday and it just didn’t have enough ponies. We put the Atlanta engine back in because we wanted to qualifying No. 1 and just couldn’t find the combination. We were just making too much horsepower. Our runs on Saturday just ripped through the clutch. We were loaded for bear and it got kind of ugly.”
Hines estimated he could have gone to number one qualifier if the bike had run better in the first sixty-feet. If Hines had pulled off the No. 1 qualifier, he would have been the fourth consecutive top qualifier to win an event in 2008.
Instead, he won from the third spot. Andrew Hines has made sixteen consecutive runs in the six-second zone. Such actions speak volumes
Andrew Hines has made sixteen consecutive runs in the six-second zone. (Roger Richards)
Hines won his fifteenth national event title in St. Louis in repelling a determined effort from the defending NHRA Midwest Nationals champion Matt Smith.
“We are just going straight and making good runs,” Hines said. “This is the same engine we ran in Atlanta and we tried a new one on Friday and it just didn’t have enough ponies. We put the Atlanta engine back in because we wanted to qualifying No. 1 and just couldn’t find the combination. We were just making too much horsepower. Our runs on Saturday just ripped through the clutch. We were loaded for bear and it got kind of ugly.”
Hines estimated he could have gone to number one qualifier if the bike had run better in the first sixty-feet. If Hines had pulled off the No. 1 qualifier, he would have been the fourth consecutive top qualifier to win an event in 2008.
Instead, he won from the third spot.
“To be the first to win from something other than the top is special,” Hines admitted. “Four races, three finals and two wins provide a tribute to how good my team is. They like being on top and they’ve put a motorcycle under me capable of doing it.”
Hines attributes his success to the hard work being put in back at their Vance & Hones shop in Brownsburg, Indiana.
“They are trying to dig and scrap and get anything they can to help us out,” Hines said. “We have a month off, so this is the perfect time to head into that swing. It’s going to be fun once we get to Chicago.”
Chances are when Hines gets there he will be racing under a different set of specifications. The NHRA technical department has made frequent changes to the different combinations in an effort to maintain parity.
The unspoken 6.90 “break-out” was breached by both the Harley-Davidson and Buell teams over the course of the St. Louis weekend.
Suzuki came within .003 in qualifying.
“We weren’t expecting the 6.87 although the atmospheric conditions were there for it,” Hines said. “When I came around the corner after the run, no one would tell me what I ran. The conditions were there for us to go fast. If everyone is going fast, it just makes the class look good.”
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