He may not act like it, but really, he's the new guy. Not just on the
team, but in the category. Eddie Krawiec hit the jackpot when he was
chosen to be the new guy, so he's not complaining. After all, he was
one of many that were interviewed, poked, prodded and thrown on a
Harley-Davidson V-Rod and sent down a quarter-mile track to see who was
ready to ride the second entry on the Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines
Motorsports Harley-Davidson team. Make that, the three-time defending
NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championship winning team. Krawiec's
the new guy on that team.
But if anyone was built to be the new guy on a team with a storied
five-year history, it's Krawiec. He spent several years on the AMA
Prostar tour and battled for the championship there twice. He came up
just short (less than 10 points one year) but he learned how to
compete. He had even raced at a couple of NHRA events. He made
qualifying attempts at eight national events, but prior to this year's
season opener at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, had never qualified for
the show. Krawiec has also logged in a few years working at Old Bridge
Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. – a city he calls home in
the first place. He has spent a great deal of time working for and with
drag racers and has a keen sense of what it takes to run a historic
racing facility and how to keep racers happy and competitive.
After all that, Krawiec did the unthinkable. With years of racing
experience on and off the track, he decided to take a year off from
competition and just work on finding a job. That risk paid off. He got
a job. Now the 30-year-old is set to compete in his fifth event with
the Screamin' Eagle team. The Pro Stock Motorcycle class will next
rejoin the series at Route 66 Raceway for the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA
Nationals, June 7-10. In this Q&A session Krawiec talks about what
it's like to be the 30-year-old new guy, why he can respect a
well-thrown newspaper and why he gave up a career wearing zebra stripes
with cool shoes.