14th annual Sept. 4 - Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

INDIANAPOLIS — POWERade points leader Andrew Hines earned a lucrative victory and a year's worth of bragging rights in the Pro Stock Bike category by winning Saturday's 14th annual K&N Filters NHRA Pro Bike Klash presented by eHomeCredit Corp.

The final was an all Harley-Davidson affair as Vance & Hines teammates Hines and GT Tonglet raced each other on their powerful V-Rods. This time it was Hines taking the stripe first with a 7.203 at 186.10 mph to Tonglet's 7.270 at 183.99 mph.

"It's an honor to follow in my brother's footsteps and win this event," Hines said of his brother Matt Hines, a three time NHRA champion who now serves as Andrew's crew chief. "He won it four times so I've at least got one on him now. I hope that one day I can reach his stature and accomplish some of the things he did in his career. I look up to Matt so much. It's awesome to do some of the things he's done.

"Last year we put the first Harley-Davidson V-Rod in this event when I qualified seventh. But I didn't show very well on race day. This year we put both of our team Harleys in the final so it was a win-win situation for Vance & Hines. It really didn't matter who won. We just had fun racing each other and this time I came out on top."

The special event, which invites the top eight qualifiers from the previous 12 months, paid Hines $15,000 for his win and Tonglet $5,000 for his runner-up finish. Hines also has a chance at a $10,000 "double-up" bonus from the NHRA should he win the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Monday.

"That's a nice paycheck and I thank the people at K&N for all they do," Hines said. "Now we need to double-up and win the race. We figured it out that when Matt doubled-up it was worth $45,000. That would be great for this team."

Hines was a picture of consistency en route to the final, posting a pair of 7.19s against a broken Michael Phillips and Antron Brown. Tonglet started with a 7.19 of his own against reigning series champion Geno Scali but backed off to a 7.36 in the semifinal round when opponent Angelle Savoie had a -.005-second red-light start.

Savoie and Brown, teammates under the U.S. Army Racing umbrella, earned $3,000 for their showings. First-round losers Phillips, Scali, Shawn Gann, and Craig Treble pocketed $2,500 apiece for making the Klash field.

Aside from the $36,000 paid out Saturday to the eight participants, K&N Filters pays each race's low qualifier a $1,000 prize for earning the top position. With 15 Pro Stock Bike races per Klash cycle, the yearly payout for the series is $51,000.