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Field of elite eight riders prepared for epic Mickey Thompson Pro Bike Battle

12 Aug 2020
Posted by NHRA.com staff
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At the upcoming Denso U.S. Nationals, one Pro Stock Motorcycle rider will walk away with $25,000 but earning it won’t be easy. In order to claim the windfall, a rider will have to outlast world-class competition in the Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle, a special race-within-a-race that is open only to the top riders in the class based on qualifying results from the previous 10-events. The special event will be held on Saturday, September 5, during professional qualifying at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

The recent Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals presented by Pennzoil set the field for this year’s Pro Bike Battle and as usual, it features the best talent in the class. The final qualifiers include world champions Matt Smith, Andrew Hines, Eddie Krawiec, Jerry Savoie, and Angelle Sampey as well as veteran riders Steve Johnson, Scotty Pollacheck, and Hector Arana Jr. All told, the eight qualifiers have combined to win 17 world championships and more than 200 NHRA national event titles.

Smith, the 2018 Pro Bike Battle winner, earned the top spot in qualifying for the second-straight year by riding his Denso EBR to the pole position in six of ten qualifying races held in 2019-20. Smith finished 100-points ahead of No. 2 seed Hines and 145 ahead of third-ranked Kraweic. Arana Jr. held on to the final spot following last week’s Indianapolis event despite a late surge by Angie Smith and Ryan Oehler, who narrowly missed the field.

Last year’s Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle was held in late July at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals where Hines won his third Pro Bike Battle trophy following a win over teammate Krawiec in an all-Harley-Davidson final round. In addition to the $25,000 top prize, the runner-up will receive $10,000 out of a total purse of $61,000.

Round one pairings for the event will be announced at a later date.

Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle final points standings
  1.  Matt Smith (1,605)
  2.  Andrew Hines (1,505)
  3.  Eddie Krawiec (1,460)
  4.  Jerry Savoie (1,415)
  5.  Angelle Sampey (1,350)
  6.  Steve Johnson (1,290)
  7.  Scotty Pollacheck (1,265)
  8.  Hector Arana Jr. (1,250)