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DragRace Central "I've been racing for seven years now and our program has been
very successful," Hines said. "We've grown to the point
where we can't run our operation at the high level we have come to
expect without major sponsorship. The contract with our former sponsor
ended prematurely and we have not been able to secure a sponsor that
we feel comfortable with yet." Hines became the youngest champion in NHRA history when he won his
first Pro Stock Bike title in 1997 at age 25. Hines was the first
rider in Pro Stock Bike history to earn three consecutive championships
in 1999. He has finished in the top three of the standings each year
of competition.
"We are experiencing a lot of momentum with the Harley program
right now and it would be very difficult to stop the progress we've
made and split our attention between the two teams," Hines said.
"It's a big challenge for us and I think it will help me in the
long run. This is going to help me look at tuning the bike in a different
aspect." Hines has collected 30 national event victories in 47 final round
appearances. He is second only to John Force in consecutive races
without a DNQ (96). His .781 winning percentage leads all pro categories.
"At this point I really want to focus on the Harley program
and when the time is right, I will go back to racing. This is definitely
not the end of my racing career." The support vehicle for all Vance & Hines engine customers will continue to travel to each NHRA national event, led by Joe VanderBrink. January 27, 2003 by Al Omond
The sport is continuing to grow at the local level with new riders
joining the flock every year and the ones who have been here for a
while are getting better and better. With snowmobiles joining the
fold the competition should increase even more. As far as ATV’s
are concerned, we have yet to see what that will bring. The ET bike race scene has had rumours of a standard format across
all the divisions, but that rumour was put to rest with all divisions
following the same standard they had last year. The battle over pro
tree or full tree electronics is a hot topic in several forums on
the net. Word has it a prominent Division Six ET bike racer is calling
it quits over this heated debate, you’ll be the first to know
as the information is confirmed.
I would think this a good business move on NHRA’s part to involve
the American motorcycle industry, seeing that they already have the
import motorcycle industry participating. Personally I would like
to see funny bike brought into the schedule for exhibition, being
that the majority of competitors within the NHRA ET motorcycle racing
are imports and we would enjoy this. But that is a whole big can of
worms that I won’t get into right now. A total of eight riders will complete the NHRA Mickey Thompson 6-Second
Pro Stock Bike Club. The second rider to clock a quarter-mile run
of 6.99 seconds or quicker will receive $3,000. The third rider to
accomplish the feat will receive a check for $2,000 and the fourth
rider will earn $1,000. Four checks worth $500 each will be distributed
to riders five through eight in the club. Members of the NHRA Mickey
Thompson 6-Second Pro Stock Bike Club will receive a special recognition
plaque to honor their achievement. The first rider to break the barrier
also will receive a commemorative trophy. I will be working on some interviews with some well known riders in the season to come, so stay tuned for info from street to national.
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January 29, 2003
Trinidad
Colorado: Three-time NHRA Pro Stock Bike champion Matt Hines announced
today that he will not race during the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
season
Vance
& Hines Motorsports combined efforts with Harley-Davidson last
season to produce the first Harley-backed Pro Stock Bike in NHRA competition.
The team failed to qualify for eliminations in seven attempts - something
the Vance & Hines team is determined to change. 
I
should start my contribution to Speedzone on the net with some personal
history. For those of you that don’t know me, my home track is
Mission Raceway in British Columbia, Canada. I race a pro sportsman
motorcycle in local competition and divisional events. I have won
the championship for my category at Mission Raceway six times with
one runner-up in 1997, in the last seven years. I also won the Summit
ET Race of Champions in Division Six for 2001, as well as a runner-up
in 2000. The National Open Series netted me a championship in 1999
and a runner-up in 2002. I also hold a bronze level NHRA technical
inspector certification and have been racing drag bikes since 1989.
I don’t see stopping anytime soon as I love this sport. 
Nationally,
NHRA has introduced Top Fuel Harleys into the mix to perhaps create
a steppingstone to a new class. The Harleys will be running at select
events on the NHRA schedule. The three NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
events in 2003 that will showcase the NHRA Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley-Davidson
exhibitions will be the Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals, Bristol,
Tenn. Dragway (April 25-27), the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, Route 66
Raceway, Joliet, Ill. (Sept. 25-28), and the O'Reilly Fall Nationals
at Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas (Oct. 9-12).
Early
season testing in Arizona had one loan Pro Stock motorcycle rider
show up to put down some passes. Craig Treble, who finished second
in the 2002 final standings, was the lone Pro Stock Bike competitor
to participate in the time trial. The Chandler, Ariz., resident best
time of the day atop his Matco Tools Suzuki was a pass of 7.215 at
184.65. We will be looking for faster speeds from him as the season
progresses. Treble has a good chance of breaking into the six-second
barrier and taking the $10,000 Mickey Thompson prize money for being
the first in the sixes, as does Angelle Savoie, Matt Hines or couple
other riders.