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Vance & Hines wraps up successful relationship with Harley-Davidson, moves resources to new racing development center

With the announcement that Harley-Davidson has chosen not to field factory racing teams in American Flat Track (AFT) or NHRA drag racing in 2021, Vance & Hines will redeploy its racing development team towards creating high performance products for a variety of vehicles, brands and race series in both two and four-wheel segments.
11 Nov 2020
Posted by NHRA.com staff
News
vanceandhines

 With the announcement that Harley-Davidson has chosen not to field factory racing teams in American Flat Track (AFT) or NHRA drag racing in 2021, Vance & Hines will redeploy its racing development team towards creating high performance products for a variety of vehicles, brands and race series in both two and four-wheel segments.

“We thank Harley-Davidson for being a partner with Vance & Hines for 20 years. Together, in NHRA and AFT, we have celebrated 116 wins and 11 championships,” said Vance & Hines co-founder Terry Vance. “Harley-Davidson has been one of the best partners we’ve ever had.”  
 
Going forward, the Indy Operations Team will be refocused on performance products for two and four-wheel vehicles and will be redeployed under the name Vance & Hines Racing Development Center (RDC). Vance & Hines will continue its long and successful racing tradition in 2021 with sponsored riders in a variety of racing series.  
 
In addition, Vance & Hines will remain the sole licensee, manufacturer and seller of Harley-Davidson XG750R Production Twin motorcycles and Harley-Davidson XG750R Super Twin motorcycles. This racing variant of the Harley-Davidson Street 750 was the motorcycle that won the AFT Production Twins championship in 2020. The Production Twins bike is being manufactured and shipped to Harley-Davidson dealers at this time.

Following their debut in 2004, Vance & Hines Harley-Davidsons have been a dominant force in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition with a combined 107 wins and ten world championships. Along the way, the team also set numerous records including the sport's first six-second run by Andrew Hines at the 2005 Gatornationals in Gainesville.
 
Regarding his future, Hines, admit his plans are currently up in the air, and the same goes for teammates Eddie Krawiec and Angelle Sampey, although all three world champions fully intend to continue racing in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle division.

“Right now, I’d say we are all currently in a holding pattern until we can get through this,” said Hines, the sport’s most successful two-wheel racer with 56 national event wins and six NHRA world championships. “One thing I can say for certain is that we’re still very much committed to actively supporting our customers. Our Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle program has been very successful, and we’ve recently had additional interest in that segment of our business so the Vance & Hines name will continue to be very visible at NHRA events.

“With the exception of a brief period in 1994-95, the time between when my dad [Byron] stopped racing and my older brother [Matt] started, racing has been a part of this company since it was founded in 1979 and that mentality has not changed," Hines said. “Right now, we’re not exactly sure of what the future holds but it is our intention to get back to racing. If you look at our history, we make every effort to align ourselves with the best people and the best companies and that’s still our ultimate goal.”

“Vance & Hines is having its best year in over a decade. We're strong and we have a strategy that drives our growth and expansion in our current markets and in new ventures,” added Mike Kennedy, President and CEO of Vance & Hines. “While we loved our time running the factory race teams for Harley-Davidson, we couldn't be more excited about the future.”
 
Vance & Hines has been contracted to run factory race teams for a range of companies during its 41-year history including Suzuki, Yamaha and Ducati. The partnership with Harley-Davidson was focused on drag racing and flat track racing.