Coming off his victory at the Pro Stock bike season-opener in Gainesville, Fla., on March 21, Hines opened with a strong 7.130/188.04 run to beat Fred amarena (7.301/179.18) in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. Tonglet, the runner-up at Gainesville, posted a time of 7.216/186.20 and advanced to the second round on a red-light start by Blain Hale (7.289/181.76).
Round two saw Hines (7.132/189.52) beat Mike Berry (7.239/184.67). In his second-round match, Tonglet (7.184/187.68) posted an outstanding reaction time of 0.009 seconds, but his quick start not enough to beat Karen Stoffer, who was off the line in 0.016 seconds and run a 7.134/185.82 to nop the harley-Davidson rider and move on to face Hines in the semi-final round.
It was Stoffer with the quick draw at the light in round three. She backed up a reaction time of just 0.001 seconds with a 7.196/184.98 run to hand Hines (0.030/7.215/177.00) his first defeat of the 2004 season, defeated Anton Brown (7.176/186.05) to claim the first final-round victory of her career.
"This was a really competitive weekend," said att Hines. "We had good air and an even track that didn't favor one style of engine."
"The bikes were really responsive to our tune-ups, and as a result they got quicker during qualifying," said Vance & Hines team owner Byron Hines. "We did have some trouble with rear tire shake that we're working on, and we look forward to the next race."
After two rounds of Pro Stock Bike competition, Hines leads the series with 196 points. Tonglet is fifth with 150 points.
"We came to the event eager to complete, after our successful 1-2 finish at Gainesville," said Screamin' Eagle Racing Manager Anne Paluso. "Even though we didn't make it to the final, we had the number one qualifier and set a new track record. Both riders did well in qualifying and in the races on Sunday."
The next Pro Stock Bike event on the NHRA POERade Drag Racing Series is the 24th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, May 14-16, in At;anta, GA.
