For seven consecutive events Andrew Hines has been to the final round, but after being humbled for three consecutive races by Rookie of the Year competitor LE Tonglet, the Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider finally got a little revenge and issued a reminder as to why he has held the Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead since the Brainerd event in mid-August. In a very close final at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, Hines beat his opponent off the starting line by .023-second and clocked a 6.916 to Tonglet's 6.913 to score the holeshot win.

"It was great, we put a lot of qualifying points on LE coming into Sunday," said Hines. "I'm trying to rely on some of the other competitors out there to take him out early, but we keep matching up in the final round and it's been tough with that little blue bike beating us the last few races. We were wondering what it was going to take to get it done. I knew I needed to be quick off the tree. I was aiming for a .020, and the bike left perfect, just like it needed to. That finish line couldn't get their quick enough. When I saw that win light, it was one of the prettiest win lights I've seen in a long time."

 For seven consecutive events Andrew Hines has been to the final round, but after being humbled for three consecutive races by Rookie of the Year competitor LE Tonglet, the Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider finally got a little revenge and issued a reminder as to why he has held the Pro Stock Motorcycle points lead since the Brainerd event in mid-August. In a very close final at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, Hines beat his opponent off the starting line by .023-second and clocked a 6.916 to Tonglet's 6.913 to score the holeshot win.

"It was great, we put a lot of qualifying points on LE coming into Sunday," said Hines. "I'm trying to rely on some of the other competitors out there to take him out early, but we keep matching up in the final round and it's been tough with that little blue bike beating us the last few races. We were wondering what it was going to take to get it done. I knew I needed to be quick off the tree. I was aiming for a .020, and the bike left perfect, just like it needed to. That finish line couldn't get their quick enough. When I saw that win light, it was one of the prettiest win lights I've seen in a long time."

Hines, the No. 3 qualifier, had the quickest motorcycle in three of the four rounds of eliminations and will leave Maple Grove Raceway with the track record for speed in hand thanks to a 196.56 mph blast recorded during qualifying.

He kicked off eliminations with a 6.850 to beat Kawasaki rider Neil Jacobs, of Utica, N.Y., and in round two, Hines pulled up alongside Angie Smith and her Coffman Trick Tanks-backed Buell. Hines clicked off a speedy 6.867 but it was decided at the starting line when Smith fouled by .046-second.

The semifinals paired Hines with teammate Eddie Krawiec, the No. 2 qualifier. Hines beat his fellow Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider off the starting line by a bunch, Krawiec clocking a restful .130 reaction to a decent .039 launch, and after having the best bike for much of eliminations, Hines left Krawiec with little chance of making up the difference. At the finish line the nod went to Hines, 6.906 to 6.980.

"That's a tough deal," said Hines. "Eddie has been on his game the last race and a half, but he's been struggling on the tree this year. He wanted to beat me as much as I wanted to beat him, because he needs those points over Matt Smith. It was tough, we work back and forth on the bikes so everybody thinks, oh, team orders. But I was over there wrenching on his bike before that semifinal round, and we were just there having fun and racing. It was the first time we had raced in a while, and it's fun to roll up there against your teammate."

After winning the last three consecutive races, Tonglet seemed to fall off a bit in qualifying, 8th, but during eliminations, his Nitro Fish Suzuki was the only motorcycle to rival the eventual event winner. In the semis, Tonglet recorded the quickest e.t. of the round to get past Al-Anabi Racing rider Matt Smith, a 6.881, after advancing from the first two rounds on red-lighting opponents Karen Stoffer and Hector Arana.

The points battle is heating up, but the pressure isn't anything new for Hines, who is now more than three rounds ahead of Tonglet. From 2004-2006 the 27-year-old rider won three consecutive championship titles, and he has finished in the top 10 every season he has competed in the Full Throttle Series, beginning in 2002. Hines is tuned by his brother, Matt Hines, a three-time series champ.

"We have a nice little cushion, but it could come down to a few measly rounds there at the end," said Hines. "We have a very consistent motorcycle, unfortunately, on Sunday we just seem to lose our tune-up. The bike goes slower and slower, and LE has just been consistent. Like I said, that was a very pretty win light."

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