PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

(Ron Lewis photo)

Local favorite Eddie Krawiec, former Raceway Park general manager, claimed an emotional first Pro Stock Motorcycle victory at the historic track, taking the automatic victory when his final round opponent Hector Arana Sr. fouled at the start. Krawiec claimed his 14th career victory by finishing in 6.921 at 171.45 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.

The Krawiec team celebrates.  (Debbie Gastelu photo)

“During my TV interview I actually started crying,” said Krawiec, an Englishtown, NJ, native who now calls Indianapolis home. “[Team owner] Terry Vance has said many times that something that never comes out of Eddie’s mouth is ‘I have nothing to say.’ But I was speechless.”

Krawiec, who increased his series lead with the win, defeated Joe DeSantis and former world champs Matt Smith and LE Tonglet in the first three rounds to advance to the final. He knew he would need to be on his game for the final with Arana, who had posted some of the quickest runs of the day.

“I knew I had to hit the tree good and make a nice run to have a chance of winning,” Krawiec said. “I let Craig Treble whip me here in 2009 because I thought I had a better bike and I laid back on the starting line. He picked my pocket and still doesn’t let me forget it. I thought that was my one and only chance to win this race. Thankfully, it wasn’t.”

In the second qualifying session on Friday Krawiec had a track record performance of 6.782 at 197.48.

A bitterly disappointed Hector Arana Sr. took the blame for his final-round loss Sunday in the Toyota NHRA SuperNationals.