On March 27, NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champions Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec shared lessons in teamwork with second graders at an elementary school in Spartanburg, S.C.

On March 30 the Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson Vance & Hines teammates showed how teamwork paid dividends as Hines won the Four-Wide Nationals with a time of 6.805 seconds at 196.30 mph at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, N.C.

"We arrived early and drove down and we went and talked at the elementary school and reinforced to them that teamwork is what leads to a great future," Hines said. "We proved that point again this weekend by coming out here and doing what our team does best, performing under pressure and making sure we have the thought processes that goes along with having to win."

Hines beat Krawiec (6.812, Hector Arana Jr (6.804), and Scotty Pollacheck (6.899) in the finals.

“Watching Hector Jr., put up 199 mph in the second round got our attention,” Hines said. “We had only been running 193 or 194 mph all weekend long and it took a little bit of a gamble in the final and we were almost willing to give up a round just to learn something. We don’t run in conditions like this very often and after seeing him (Arana Jr.) put up that speed we just took a swing at it. Matt (Hines, Andrew’s crew chief) looked at the computer at a few things we did four or five years ago and said 'let’s throw this in it.' We went a little bit that direction with Eddie’s bike and a lot that direction with mine. I put it in high gear and that thing started booking it.”

Despite his stellar run, Hines admitted things didn’t come easy.

"We scratched our heads comimg into this event trying to figure out what we needed to do. We got on the dyno last week and tried a few things,” said Hines, the reigning world champ. “That's what we talked about and preached to those kids at the elementary school, the need to follow through with the thought processes and responsibility and everybody on my team did an outstanding job making sure we had flawless runs and that got us to the final round and give us a chance to turn on a couple of win lights."

Hines acknowledged his heartbeat increased when he was speaking to the school children.

"It was more pressure than going out in any final round," Hines said. "You are sitting there and you are talking to 200 second graders and they are all staring at you and you finish your conversation about teamwork and responsibility and you ask them if they have any questions about 40 kids raise their hands. It is really cool talking to those little kids and see their eyes light up when you tell them you are going nearly 200 mph. I saw a few of them (the students) out here this weekend and it great to see them.  We don't get to do that kind of stuff too often and it was great to take advantage of it and come out here and win it (the race). We have a couple of fans who go to that school. We have been involved with them the last few years. We did the Flat Stanley project with them over the last seven to eight months and we have the Flat Eddie and Flat Andrew. The Flat Andrew is actually on my back right now. It is phenomenal working with those kids.”

The act of cutting and pasting articles from this publication to a message board is a clear copyright violation as is pulling photos to post on social media sites. All articles and photography published in CompetitionPlus.com are protected by United States of America and International copyright laws unless mentioned otherwise. The content on this website is intended for the private use of the reader and may not be published or reposted in any form without the prior written consent of CompetitionPlus.com.