“Hines takes Pro Bike Battle - Associated Press” plus 4 more

Hines takes Pro Bike Battle - Associated Press
Harvick rallies late for victory - Tampa Bay Online
Motorcycle racing popular in Indy - Indianapolis Star
Brown's dominating Top Fuel season - Indianapolis Star
As school bus rides grow longer in Hillsborough, entrepreneur offers ... - St. Petersburg Times

Hines takes Pro Bike Battle - Associated Press

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 09:25 PM PDT

CLERMONT, Ind. (AP) -- 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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Harvick rallies late for victory - Tampa Bay Online

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 09:03 PM PDT

The Associated Press

Published: September 6, 2009

HAMPTON, Ga. - Kevin Harvick led most of the race and then passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining while Earnhardt and Brian Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.

Earnhardt and Keselowski had enough gas, but were still passed by Harvick and Busch, who finished second.

Harvick led 131 of the 195 laps.

Harvick claimed his second Nationwide Series win of the season in a car fielded by the race team he built with wife Delana. He also won in Bristol, Tenn., in March.

Truex wins Atlanta pole

Martin Truex Jr. won his first pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just in time for the track's first scheduled race entirely under the lights.

Truex qualified first for tonight's Pep Boys Auto 500 with his lap of 184.149 mph. It is Truex's second pole of the season after qualifying first and finishing 11th at the Daytona 500.

Truex is leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing after the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing and said he wants to give his current team a win.

"I want to go out on a high note for them and for all they've done for me," Truex said.

Truex, 23rd in the Sprint Cup standings, is an outsider in the late-season competition for one of the 12 spots in the Chase for the Championship.

"I think the urgency is just that the year is coming to an end," Truex said. "It's been a tough year. We've had some great runs. We've worked really hard and really don't have a lot to show for it.

Kasey Kahne, 11th in the Sprint Cup standings, qualified second at 183.497 mph. Jimmie Johnson, was third, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.

NHRA: Andrew Hines won the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle for the fourth time in his career, 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. A.

Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) 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.

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Motorcycle racing popular in Indy - Indianapolis Star

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 07:30 PM PDT

'Super' MotoGP race will bring this South Carolina fan back

Re: MotoGP. I would like to add my thanks to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the city of Indianapolis for hosting and running such a super event. This was my first visit to both the city and the track, and I can tell you that it was one of the most fun, best-run events that I have ever attended.

I think the economy had a lot to do with the smaller crowd this year but also, motorcycle racing in America will never draw crowd sizes near a 500 or NASCAR event. Also, the facility is so large that 75,000 or 90,000 or even 125,000 fans will not look like a large crowd.

We sat in the Northwest Vista on race day and it had a great crowd, in both numbers and spirit. And it gave an excellent viewing perspective. I noticed what looked like a large crowd in the Southeast Vista across the track. Most motorcycle race fans will sit where they can see the most corner action and not just a drag race on the front straight. So the bulk of the seating on the front straight will be empty and make it look as if no one attends or cares about the event. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Stick with this event, IMS and Indy. It will be worth it, for the city and the fans of motorcycle racing. I will be back.

Tom Kalayjian

Graniteville, S.C.

Michigan alum has bad feeling about Rodriguez

Re: Rich Rodriguez and Michigan football, I have to agree with Bob Kravitz. As a Michigan alum, I wish it were not the case. When Rodriguez was hired, a friend asked me my thoughts. I told him I was "cautiously optimistic." Well, so much for that.

Rodriguez is passionate about the game and his players. However, rules (like 'em or not) are rules. And although I feel the picture of the student-athlete the NCAA likes to portray is somewhat unrealistic, it appears as though this has gone a little beyond bending the rules.

There is far too much trading integrity for success in our society. And we've been through enough of that already (i.e. Fab Five). I always felt there was a side to Rodriguez that was a little edgy. Although I refused to admit it at the time, the Joe Tiller "snake oil salesman" comment appears spot on now.

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Brown's dominating Top Fuel season - Indianapolis Star

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 07:30 PM PDT

CLERMONT, Ind. -- A drag racer's season is going well when a rival who has won the past five NHRA championships calls it "unbelievable."

That's about how Antron Brown describes his year, too.

The former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout leads every relevant category in Top Fuel this season, including points earned. No matter what happens in the rest of the 55th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park, he'll be leading the standings when the championship Countdown begins.

"It's incredible," Brown said. "We've just got to keep doing what we're doing."

Brown has five wins and six poles in 17 races, and his consistency is unmatched. He has qualified in the top half of the 16-car field in every event but one and, after three runs this weekend, is positioned to do so again.

He has had the low elapsed time seven times and the top speed nine times. And he is the only Top Fuel driver this season not to have lost in the opening round of eliminations.

What makes Brown's accomplishments all the more noteworthy is that his 2008 team -- David Powers Motorsports -- dried up from under him.

Brown was fortunate that Mike Ashley, who won the U.S. Nationals as a Funny Car driver in 2007, started a Top Fuel team, and hired the Pittsboro, Ind., resident to drive. So far, it has been a match made in drag racing heaven.

Brown is guaranteed to have at least a 30-point lead heading to the first of the six-race Countdown on Sept. 17-20 in Concord, N.C.

Brown said the key to switching teams was keeping the crew mostly intact. That and his composure are what have built a 187-point lead, according to the driver he's trying to dethrone, Tony Schumacher.

"Those guys are extremely humble, and Antron is doing a great job driving," Schumacher said. "He's relaxed, calm and cool, and I'm not sure you're going to see them sway in any way, shape or form because I don't think Antron wakes up in the morning and (feels like he) has to win; he wants to win.

"He wants to dig to find a way to win, and that's how champions are made. He's a future champ."

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As school bus rides grow longer in Hillsborough, entrepreneur offers ... - St. Petersburg Times

Posted: 05 Sep 2009 05:00 PM PDT

By Traci Rader and Tom Marshall, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Sunday, September 6, 2009

BRANDON — Work starts at 6 a.m., but your first-grader's school starts at 8:05. He'll have to stand at a crowded bus stop with kids twice his size, while you're at the office, wondering if he's still alive.

It's enough to make a mom reach for her wallet.

That's what Karina DaSilva and a growing number of parents in eastern Hillsborough County are doing this fall. Dissatisfied or excluded from regular school bus service, they've signed on with a new, private bus service to ferry their kids to class. It costs $35 a week, and they say it's worth every penny.

"I didn't know what I was going to do with Leo and his bus situation," said DaSilva, who juggles her own nursing schedule and her husband's military deployment to South Korea. "Then a friend of a friend told me about Kids Door to Door, and I was so thankful. You can't put a price on your child's safety."

Entrepreneur Ozzie Saez said he targeted families living within 2 miles of school, most of whom don't qualify for public school bus service under state guidelines. But several parents told him it wasn't convenience that prompted them to sign up. It was fear.

"My son got hit in the mouth at the bus stop on the first day," said parent Diedra Searles, describing her middle schooler's troubles with bullying. "Another time he was halfway home and he was punched on the back of the head."

Parent Christie Clay, who leaves for work before her 12-year-old son goes to school, said she struggled with unbearable delays.

"The bus was late so many times last year, I bought him a cell phone because I was always worried about him," she said. "After school he waited for a very long time under a tent unsupervised, and I had to leave work to take him home."

Officials with the Hillsborough County School District say they notify schools when they hear of problems at bus stops. Sometimes schedules and routes get rearranged, or police drop by if there are reports of bullying.

"That's why we're asking parents to go out to the bus stop with (children,)" said transportation director John Franklin. "And practice those good habits of staying 10 to 15 paces off the roadway."

But he acknowledged that tight budgets have forced the district to make its bus system as efficient as possible, which sometimes means more crowded buses or longer routes.

School officials in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties say they've never heard of a similar private bus venture.

So far, Saez is running a single bus with a handful of riders in Brandon and Valrico, with other riders due to start next week.

Saez, 37, got his start in the transporting business as a teenager, helping his parents run a bus service in Dade County. Later he started a successful company selling and rebuilding cars and motorcycles, and did a lot of traveling in support of a racing team.

He earned more than his share of speeding tickets on those trips, with eight citations between 2002 and 2007. Four were in speed zones of 40 miles per hour or less, and the others were on highways, including one ticket for driving 91 miles per hour.

But Saez said those were the result of speed traps during years when he drove 20,000 miles or more.

"None of my tickets were for reckless driving," he said. "Since I stopped traveling, I haven't gotten any tickets in a couple of years."

Now, Saez said, his entire focus is on giving families a safe and reliable way to get their children to school.

"My mother did it out of need while going through a rough economic patch in life, and I am now (doing) it for the exact opposite reasons," he said. "I have the time and money to do it while filling a need in Hillsborough County."

The sun had barely risen on a recent morning in Valrico as Saez arrived to pick up 6-year-old Leo DaSilva. His mom, Karina DaSilva, gripped his hand, suddenly uncertain.

His first days of school had been traumatic, she said, in large part because of long rides on a crowded, hot bus.

But there were soft seats, music and air conditioning waiting for him in the new, white van, and Saez called out a cheerful greeting. With a quick kiss, Leo was off to school, and DaSilva was happy.

She said she has no problem with Saez's driving record.

"I had many conversations with him, I did a background check, looked at his commercial license and insurance and took time to get to know him," DaSilva said. "My son is in good hands."

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3400.

[Last modified: Sep 06, 2009 12:49 AM]