PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

What a difference 10 lbs. makes. For the first time in 2012, a Harley-Davidson did not make the final round. After NHRA made a change in weight carried by Andrew Hines and Eddie Krawiec before the Dallas event, the two were eliminated in the semifinals.

Perhaps the most important round win came in the semifinal when Michael Ray (near lane) beat Andrew Hines.

Texas native Michael Ray claimed his first career victory, powering his Viper Motorcycle Company/GottSpeed Racing Buell to a performance of 6.920 at 192.77 to hold off Karen Stoffer’s GEICO Suzuki, which trailed with a 7.028 at 190.48.

“It’s really surreal, and I don’t think it’s really sank in yet that I’m getting to go home with the biggest thing that I’ve worked my whole life for,” Ray said. “When we got here this weekend, we knew we had a great bike that could go out there and be competitive, coming off our performance in Charlotte. I just knew that as long as I just kept my cool and rode the bike consistently there’s not a better tuner out here when it’s hot than Matt Smith, and I think we showcased that today.”

Ray, who beat Scotty Pollacheck, Hector Arana Jr., and Andrew Hines to advance to his second career final round, moved from seventh to fourth in the standings with the victory. Points leader Eddie Krawiec increased his championship lead to 11 over second place Hines.

“I think there’s no better time than now to start a run at [the championship],” Ray said. “I don’t think there’s any better team on Sunday to be consistent than our bike. I think if I’m sitting here answering questions in Reading my response might be a little bit different, but right now I just want to go out and be consistent and then let the points shake out where they’re supposed to.”