It’s October now.

Maybe it was the dank, gloomy weather that inspired him. Or maybe some Halloween ghouls manipulated the normally friendly, affable Eddie Krawiec.

The Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson racer began Sunday’s Pro Stock Motorcycle eliminations of the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Reading, Pa., on a rather macabre note.

He engaged in what he called “friendly words in the pits” with first-round opponent Angelle Sampey, a three-time series champion like himself. (It seemed a little strange to begin with that Sampey, who was second in the standings, would find herself squaring off against Kraiwec in the first round. But that’s the spooky result when constant rain limits the field to a single qualifying session.)

What Krawiec told her was “I’m going to cut your head off, and it’s going to be rolling around down there about 1,000 feet when I go through the finish line.”

She’s seldom shocked anymore by tough talk from the men of the sport, but Krawiec punctuated his remarks with a mock-evil sort of laugh when he said such exchanges are “definitely not” new between his camp and the Star Racing contingent.

“I told her what I was going to do to her. I kept true to my word,” Krawiec said. NHRA drag racing, he said, “is about having good friendship and fun out here, but it’s serious business. We’re here to race, and I’m here to get the job done. I was on a mission in the first round. I knew if I went past the first round I could keep the momentum and keep it rolling.”

Krawiec, the No. 2 qualifier, did slash the tree with a nearly perfect .002-of-a-second against No.15 starter Sampey, who had a frightful .101 reaction time.

And he did keep the momentum, mowing down Karen Stoffer and LE Tonglet (his closest challenger in the standings) before ultimately smashing the hope of first-time finalist Cory Reed – who happens to be Sampey’s teammate and the racer she will be partnering with in 2017 in a new Pro Stock Bike venture.

The victory, Krawiec’s fourth of the year, fourth at Maple Grove Raceway, and 35th overall, elevated him from fifth place to second in the standings. As the Countdown drama shifts in two weeks to the Texas Motorplex near Dallas, Krawiec is within 38 points of leader Andrew Hines, the reigning champion and Krawiec’s Vance & Hines teammate.

But Sunday was Krawiec’s day to haunt Star Racing. He used a 6.818-second elapsed time at 193.88 mph on the quarter-mile to bury Reed, who challenged with a 6.958, 186.43 on the Y-Not Racing / Star Racing Buell – and a better launch than Krawiec’s, .015 of a second to .026.

It gave Krawiec his fourth victory in six final rounds and ran his elimination-round record to 31-9 as he starts to take aim at his teammate.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), and Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) also were winners as the Countdown heads into the final three races at Dallas, Las Vegas, and Pomona, Calif.  

Reed earned his career-first final-round appearance by knocking off Melissa Surber, Hector Arana, and points leader Andrew Hines. The final round marked the second straight race in which Reed faced Krawiec. The rookie and strong contender for the Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award had beaten Krawiec in the second round at St. Louis in their first-ever meeting a week before.

Certainly a runner-up finish might have been a disappointment, but it showed tremendous progress for Reed. He started his season with a pair of DNQs, red-lit in three other events, and had one more DNQ. So the Colorado racer is improving.

Reed wasn’t upset at all, though.

“I felt like I won, just being in the finals,” he said. “I’m very happy. I got beat in the finals, and I pulled my helmet off with a huge smile on my face. I don’t know if that happens very often.”

He had been jazzed at the thought he eliminated the points leader, Hines, in the semifinals, on a holeshot. Reed had a .019-second reaction time, compared to Hines’ .083, and that made the difference as he won with a 6.909, 187.96 against Hines’ 6.858, 194.24.

“I think the semifinals was the coolest round I’ve won in my rookie season,” Reed said. “I knew I had to get the advantage on the tree against Andrew. When I saw my win light, that was probably the most excited I’ve ever been. I’ve raced Andrew a few times and never won. I’ve gone red by a few thousandths or my bike would have a malfunction against him. It was nice winning that round.”

However, the day belonged to Krawiec. He said, though, that it belonged to the entire Vance & Hines organization.

“This was a big day for all of our team, with Andrew and myself getting past Round 1. When you draw Angelle and Chip Ellis (who entered the event ranked No. 3, just 17 points off Hines’ pace) in Round 1, you don’t say, ‘This’ll be easy. This should be no problem this weekend.’ ”

What he did say stirred the rivalry between Vance & Hines and Star Racing. But what he said on the track might scare Andrew Hines more than anyone else.