Hines takes Pro Bike Battle

The Associated Press

CLERMONT, Ind. — Andrew Hines won the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle for the fourth time in his career Saturday, beating Hector Arana in the final at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals — the NHRA most prestigious event.

Hines edged Arana, the Stock Motorcycle qualifying leader, to take the $25,000 top prize in the all-star event for the top eight teams from the last year. After beating Steve Johnson and teammate Eddie Krawiec in the first two rounds, Hines won the final on his Harley-Davidson when Arana fouled at the start.

"I can't tell you what this means to me," said Hines, also the winner in 2004, 2006 and 2007. "It was tough to see Hector go red, but as soon as I saw my win light on, I thought to myself, 'I just won 25 grand.' With the economy being what it is, this really does a lot for our team. To win this race four times is also special. The only other riders who have done that are my brother, Matt, and John Myers. John was my idol and to be a member of that club really means a lot to me."

Larry Dixon, Robert Hight and Mike Edwards joined Arana in maintaining their No. 1 qualifying positions at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, the final race of the regular season. Following this event, the top 10 teams in each pro category will compete in the six-race Countdown to 1, NHRA's championship playoffs, which start Sept. 18 at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C.

Dixon led Top Fuel with his performance of 3.850 at 306.81 from Friday.

The other three leaders improved on their Friday performances, with Hight posting a 4.082 at 308.35 in his Ford Mustang in Funny Car, Edwards clocking a 6.581 at 209.01 in his Pontiac GXP in Pro Stock, and Arana leading Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.936 at 191.89 on a Buell.

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September 05, 2009 10:11 PM EDT

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