With a championship #1 on the flanks of the Harley-Davidson V-Rod motorcycle, the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines drag racing team is set to open the defense of its Pro Stock Motorcycle 2014 world championship. The team kicks off the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series March 13-15 at the 46th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Fla.
Leading the Harley-Davidson charge in 2015 will be riders Andrew Hines and Ed Krawiec, the pair of veterans who together have earned seven NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world titles with the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines team. This season Hines will be staging at the starting line on the #1 V-Rod and defending the world championship he earned 2014, his first title since winning three in a row from 2004-2006.
“That #1 is real validation for the team,” said Hines. “We were determined to get this team back to the front last year and now that we are back on top, don’t look for us to back off.”
Also hungry for another title, Krawiec opens his ninth season with the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines effort as a teammate to Hines and perhaps his toughest competitor.
“There’s no question I want to win another championship,” said Krawiec, a three-time champion who finished second in points to Hines in 2014. “We had a great season last year putting both Harley bikes at the top of the standings. I feel like I checked off an important box on my drag-racing resume with a win at the U.S. Nationals in Indy. But I start each season with a championship as my goal.”
Crew chief Matt Hines will continue to guide the team on race weekends and led an off-season R&D program aimed at improving the Harley-Davidson V-Rod motorcycles the team will field in 2015.
“We now have our engine highly developed, so finding more power is really challenging,” said Matt Hines. “Instead, we need to focus on optimizing our entire package to make sure we are utilizing all the power we have available. There were no significant rules changes for this season. The biggest change for all the Pro Stock teams will be switching to the official Sunoco race fuel, but we’ve been testing it on the dyno all winter to be ready.”
The 2015 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule includes 16 events on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. After the first 10 events, the points will be re-set for the top 10 riders who have qualified for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
