BYRON TO ANDREW - "MAKE IT HAPPEN"
Hines took his concerns to his father Byron Hines, one-half of the legendary Vance & Hines legend.
“I pointed out both of them won the event after qualifying No. 1,” Hines recalled. “I said, ‘dad I want to qualify number one in Atlanta.”
Hines continued, “I swear that is what I told him and he said, ‘Okay make it happen.”
The Hines brothers had better get used to that kind of input because the elder Hines is beginning to step away more and more from the operation and putting it into Andrew and Matt Hines’s hands. Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Pro Stock rider Andrew Hines couldn’t help but notice the trend in
his
class. The two-time world champion from Brownsburg, Indiana realized
after the Houston final round, the key to winning an event was to
qualify No. 1. After all, the formula had worked for Matt Guidera and
Matt Smith, winners of the first two events on the ten race schedule.
Hines took his concerns to his father Byron Hines, one-half of the legendary Vance & Hines legend.
“I pointed out both of them won the event after qualifying No. 1,”
Hines recalled. “I said, ‘dad I want to qualify number one in Atlanta.”
Hines continued, “I swear that is what I told him and he said, ‘Okay make it happen.”
The Hines brothers had better get used to that kind of input because
the elder Hines is beginning to step away more and more from the
operation and putting it into Andrew and Matt Hines’s hands.
According to Hines, he and his brother made about sixty pulls on the
shop dyno and added a successful test session in Valdosta, Ga., prior
to Commerce for good measure.
The top spot added extra pressure to Hines, who had been shut out of the top spots in both qualifying and race day situations.
“With those guys having done it already [won from the No. 1 qualifying
position], it really added a lot more pressure on me,” Hines admitted.
“I felt pretty nervous all day long because I didn't want to be the
first guy of the season at this point to qualify number one and not win
the race.”
The Commerce victory marked the 14th of his career with the most recent
coming last season during the second Las Vegas national event.
“The motorcycle was flawless this weekend,” Hines said in a post-race
press conference. “There was nothing wrong with it. We left the same
engine in it all weekend long. It's the same engine we had in at
testing on Monday. We made five runs in Indy and we made eight runs
here. I can't say enough about what the guys did with the engines back
at the shop.”
Make no bones about it; Hines wanted the Atlanta win badly.
“We were all frustrated after Houston,” Hines admitted. “Matt Smith and
Matt Guidera showed us what it was like to get our butts kicked at the
last two races. We put our noses to the grindstone, and I know that's
an old saying but it works every time with my team.”
Every wonder what the grindstone means in terms of reaction time? It
meant a .009 reaction time for Hines in the final round. Or, maybe he
and we’re being sarcastic, just screwed up a red-light?
“That [his .009 reaction] was a little bit on accident,” Hines
explained. I wanted to go teen. I figured we needed to be a teen or
something to run with Chip. We kind of threw a tune up in there that
we hadn't put in all weekend long. It definitely performed.
“I knew I could hit the tree as hard as I could because it was getting
dark and I could see the tree a little better. I just pushed the bike
in there and said, ‘alright let's go.”
Hines continued, “Luckily it was green. When I saw it was green, we
don't have blinders on our helmets anymore because of the new NHRA
rules. It was a little awkward because I've raced with blinders in my
helmet my entire career.
“I hadn't gone red all weekend. I knew we were conservative on what we
had the bike set up to do so I got lucky that it wasn't red but we were
shooting for a low teen. A little extra final round pressure got me an
extra few thousandths.”
FINDING THE PROBLEM - Hines admitted his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod just hadn’t been itself since
The end result was a provisional low qualifying effort and if he retains the top spot, the top qualifying effort will mark his second in Atlanta since 2005.
“It’s the same motorcycle I’d ridden since Houston although it feels totally different,” Hines said. “We were completely frustrated with our performance and went back to the shop to see if we could find what we needed to change.”
Hines confirmed the team pondered for a week as to what parts to order and changes to make.
“We really couldn’t come up with anything, so we decided to take the front of the bike off. We rewired the front half of the bike and decided to move some electronics around. We put new plug wires on the bike and you name it, we did it.
“We even checked the frame for air leaks and did a complete overhaul on the motorcycle. It paid huge dividends.”
Hines said the team tested on Monday and exceeded the track record four times. He added the best run was the final one.
“Luckily the momentum the bike rolled over into this weekend and its run the same. My dad has been stepping back and putting the responsibility on his sons.”
“We made 60 runs on the dyno and hurt a few parts but that comes with the territory. We found some power. To come out here and go to the top again meant a lot.”
“We found a bunch of problems that needed to be resolved. The team gives me feedback to help me. I think we did so many engine swaps in Valdosta that I think we actually hurt some wiring.”
