MILWAUKEE (Nov. 11, 2009) Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Eddie Krawiec knows all about come-from-behind victories. Last season, Krawiec arrived at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., 19 points out of first place in the Countdown to the Championship, yet managed to power his Harley-Davidson V-Rod motorcycle to the Pro Stock Motorcycle title when the leader faltered and Krawiec stayed steady in Sunday eliminations.
On Thursday, Krawiec returns to Pomona for the Finals as the defending champion, but faces the challenge of overcoming a 54-point deficit to Buell rider and points lead Hector Arana.
"No question we are going to need Hector to stumble," said Krawiec. "It's his race to lose. But if he makes a mistake, I'm going to be there to take advantage. This is drag racing and a lot can happen. We are not out of this championship chase yet."
To take home the title, Krawiec knows that the Screamin' Eagle/Vance and Hines team needs to come off the trailer red-hot for the first rounds of qualifying on Thursday.
"We'd really like to do well in qualifying and earn enough bonus points to cut Arana's lead to just two elimination rounds, or 40 points," said Krawiec. "We'd need to be the quickest bike in each qualifying round, and hope that he never does better than fourth. That would give us 12 bonus points, plus the bonus for being top qualifier. There's also the possibility, with the temperature predicted to be only be in the 60s, of setting a new class ET record, which is worth a 20-point bonus. There's really a lot that can happen.
"The bottom line is that we just have to do our best and continue to race the way we have all season," said Krawiec. "If we race as well as we can, we can't be disappointed no matter what happens."
Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Andrew Hines, who won his third event of the season on Nov. 1 at Las Vegas, comes to Pomona 153 points behind Arana and out of contention for the title. But the three-time world champion is just 38 points ahead of Nitrofish.com Suzuki rider Matt Smith in the race for third place in the season standings.
"I'm racing to hold on to that third position, and look for an opportunity to help Eddie bring home the title again this year," said Hines. "The Screamin' Eagle team will be racing hard all weekend."
The Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals will take place at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., with qualifying rounds on Nov. 12-14, and final eliminations scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15.