Three-time world champ Andrew Hines claimed his second win of the season on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson when final round opponent LE Tonglet turned on the red light at the start on his Nitro Fish Buell. It was Hines’ 27th career victory.
“As soon as I popped the clutch I saw LE’s red-light and I knew I’d won,” Hines said. “Then, it was a nice comfortable ride. I saw him in front of me and paid more attention to his bike than mine and I think I probably missed high gear.”
In earlier rounds, Hines defeated Scotty Pollacheck, Chip Ellis and Hector Arana Jr. The victory continued the Vance & Hines team’s streak of victories this season as Hines and teammate Eddie Krawiec have won all five bike races this season. Hines, however, was looking for a get healthy weekend after back-to-back second round losses at the last two events. With the victory, Hines cut Krawiec’s series lead to 75 points.
“We came in here with a new mindset,” Hines said. “I’ve been down on myself the last few weeks and after Englishtown we took the bike and changed all the wiring and then went testing. I rode my bike and then rode Eddie’s [teammate Eddie Krawiec’s] bike and I ran pretty much the same on both so I came in here with a lot of confidence. Matt [Hines, crew chief] has a good tune-up for hot and muggy conditions and that made the bike a joy to ride. I’m also looking forward to going to Norwalk next weekend.”