Last week, the issue of parity in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class came to the forefront again.

Blake Gann, the owner and crew chief for his son Shawn Gann, who competes in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks on a Buell, believes Harley-Davidson riders Andrew Hines and his teammate Eddie Krawiec have an unfair advantage over their competitors.

Hines, who pilots the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, is atop the point chase heading into the 25th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. Hines is 66 points in front of LE Tonglet. Krawiec is third 167 points behind Hines. Shawn Gann is 13th and not in the Countdown.

Blake Gann told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com last week, “the Harleys do not have a rulebook,” as it pertains to what they can do in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, but that’s something legend Terry Vance says is untrue. Vance is the president of the Vance & Hines Performance shop based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Last week, the issue of parity in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class came to the forefront again.

Blake Gann, the owner and crew chief for his son Shawn Gann, who competes in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks on a Buell, believes Harley-Davidson riders Andrew Hines and his teammate Eddie Krawiec have an unfair advantage over their competitors.

Hines, who pilots the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, is atop the point chase heading into the 25th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. Hines is 66 points in front of LE Tonglet. Krawiec is third 167 points behind Hines. Shawn Gann is 13th and not in the Countdown.

Blake Gann told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com last week, “the Harleys do not have a rulebook,” as it pertains to what they can do in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, but that’s something legend Terry Vance says is untrue. Vance is the president of the Vance & Hines Performance shop based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

“When I read the article and some things got said about how Harley-Davidson writes the rules and all that, there could not be anything further from the truth,” Vance said. “The truth is that Harley-Davidson is definitely the official sponsor (of the NHRA) and that makes everybody think that they are in on the rule making and all that stuff, but from my vantage point I do not see it that way. When they (NHRA) put 40 pounds on the Harleys, I can promise you that I found out about that the same day Harley did. It wasn’t like somebody was inside NHRA knowing ahead of us. I think when you look at the Pro Stock Motorcycle class now, there’s good parity and a lot of talented riders. I think the NHRA has a done a great job on the issue. Some of the moves they make, I do not totally agree, but that is because I’m bias just like the Buell guys are now. If anybody is criticizing the NHRA, I think they’re making a mistake because those guys have done a great job.”

While Vance & Hines isn't in the business of selling Harley motors to their competitors, they are in the business of selling Suzuki engines to their Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors.

“I know it is kind of a conflict of interest at the core because we sell competitor motors and stuff like that,” said Vance, who won 24 career Pro Stock Motorcycle national events. “But, the bottom line is that we try to give the guys who are our customers the very best stuff we can give them and leave the rule making up to the NHRA. It is a challenge sometimes. My sponsor is looking at me thinking ‘hey you know what are you doing helping people in the other lane beat you?’ Really and truly it comes down to the guys on the starting line as far as riders at the end of the day, the way Pro Stock Motorcycle class is now. We just try and take care of everybody the best that we can and make sure that Harley-Davidson is satisfied with our effort, and obviously we have done that. It is a tough balance, but we try and take care of everybody on the customer-side as best we can like we always have. We have been selling motors to those guys since I was involved in the sport back in the early 80s when Byron (Hines) and I
started the business.”

Andrew Hines won the first Full Throttle Series world championship for Harley-Davidson in 2004 and added two more titles in 2005 and 2006. Krawiec was the world champ in 2008.

Although Andrew Hines recently set the Pro Stock Motorcycle national elapsed time record of 6.815 seconds at the U.S. Nationals, that time isn’t that far from what his brother and crew chief Matt Hines was clocking back in his final season of racing in 2002.

And, the fact most Pro Stock Motorcycle racers are still mainly in the 6.90-second range is something Vance addressed.

“I think that you have to remember that it is NHRA’s goal, I believe, to keep the bikes somewhere close to where they are for safety reasons and also performance reasons,” Vance said. “I think you also have to remember that we’re using a 10-inch tire and we always have. So, you can make a little bit more power and maybe push it a little bit harder at the other end, but if you only have 10 inches to leave the starting line, you’re only going to have 60-foot times that are so good. It also takes a lot of power to make a difference on a motorcycle as far as elapsed times go.”

Vance also sees the weight of the motorcycles as a key factor in how fast they can go down the quarter-mile. Presently, Suzukis are at 595 pounds, Harleys are at 640 pounds and the Buells are at 615 pounds.

“The fact is that if the bikes were a lighter weight, they would go faster for sure,” Vance said. “But, I think NHRA is trying to keep the parity right, so they have been manipulating the weights for a long time. Plus the lighter the rider, the easier it is to make the package work. Look at LE (Tonglet), he has really got some skills and also he is a light guy (135 pounds) and that makes him a deadly weapon. The other Suzuki teams, it is not like they’re not trying hard, but when you have got a real light rider who has talent, it makes it really hard to compete against him. I’m really impressed with LE, he has done a fabulous job and I think it is great for the sport.”

Of the 13 Pro Stock Motorcycle events so far this season, Hines has won five times and Krawiec has one victory. Michael Phillips, aboard the Pistonator Suzuki, has three wins and Matt Smith has piloted the Al-Anabi Buell to two victories. Tonglet, meanwhile, has two wins in a row at the U.S. Nationals and the Carolina Nationals on a Vance & Hines-powered Suzuki.

“We build motors for just about for every Suzuki team out there,” Vance said. “We try to have a spec motor at the beginning of the year that performs the way that Byron (Hines) and Matt (Hines) believe it needs to and we put it out to all the customers and it seems to be working pretty well. I think the NHRA has done a fantastic job as far as the parity (in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class). I know there is some controversy right now, but I think if you look at the overall picture, the championship has come down to the last event for like five years in a row. I think you have to look at that and applaud NHRA for what they have done. I know a lot of people get upset and feel like this isn’t fair and that isn’t fair, but you have to step back and look at the big picture. In the big picture, it has been very close, and I think they (NHRA) made the right move with the Suzukis because look at what it has done to the class, it has really rejuvenated it. That made the Buell guys unhappy a little bit, but the fact is t
hat the Buell guys aren’t going any faster than they did a year ago. That indicates that they might need to be doing some more development work.”

Last year, the Suzuki motors were 1655 cc’s and now they’re 1755 cc’s.

“You also have to remember the Suzuki guys for years, not months, didn’t get any help from the NHRA,” Vance said. “They didn’t go away. They stayed tough and they waited for their time to get fixed and now it is and now they have a really good platform.”

Some race fans and critics have wondered why Vance & Hines doesn’t run a Suzuki under its umbrella, and not surprisingly Vance says that will not happen.

“There is no need for us to do that, obviously, and it would be a conflict of interest,” Vance said. “Harley-Davidson has been great for us and their support and enthusiasm and passion for what we are doing has been superb. So, I would never want to do anything to jeopardize that for starters. We do need to take care of our customer base and fortunately they understand that. Actually at the end of the day, we want as many competitors as possible involved in the (Pro Stock Motorcycle) class. Our goal is to keep the class healthy and strong and we have done everything we can to try and make sure that happens. The last thing you need is two guys dominating the class. Byron (Hines) and I did that when we were with the Suzuki guys in the early 80s and that really didn’t get us anywhere. The reason why we started selling our engines to customers to begin with was because we were actually hurting the class by dominating it.”

{source}
<div style="float:left; padding:5px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
sr_adspace_id = 2000000613807;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=2000000613807">
</script></div>

<div style="padding:5px;"><script type="text/javascript">
google_ad_client = "pub-8044869477733334";
/* 300x250, created 4/3/09 */
google_ad_slot = "2028912167";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
</script>
<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>{/source}