Spirit Harley-Davidson Racer Wins Championship - Pittsburgh Raceway

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 21, 2003 -- Kevin Patterson, sponsored by Spirit Harley-Davidson in Glenshaw, PA, recently won the track Championship at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. With the win, Patterson qualifies for a major event -- "The Race of Champions" on November 1st, at the Summit Classic at Norwalk. To qualify for this event you must win a track championship. Patterson will be one of a few bikes up against dragsters and an array of top, modified and street car champions from around region.

"This is a really prestigious event in the IHRA, and I am thrilled to participate and represent both Spirit Harley-Davidson and the Pittsburgh Raceway Park in the competition," said Patterson. "We will have the opportunity to run against some of the best racers from tracks around the country and it will be great to do it on a Harley-Davidson V-Rod."

Patterson arrived at the Pittsburgh track early to prepare for the competition. As the motorcycle champion, Kevin had to face the winners of the street, modified and top class in the final race for the 2003 track championship ... Kevin's first elimination was up against Mike Egan the Street Car Champion in a 1994 Ford Mustang. Kevin cut a .001 light and passed him early and rolled through the traps with a decisive victory. In the finals, Kevin faced Randy Good the Top Class Champion, driving a radically modified Vega ... The race was extremely close with a margin of victory a mere hundreds of a second, but when the smoke cleared the V-Rod had won the championship. Celebrating the victory Patterson later said, "This win demonstrates the performance potential of the V-Rod and extends the winning tradition of Harley-Davidson in our region."

"We are honored to represent Kevin and his custom V-rod in this victory," said Donna Sanford, owner of Spirit Harley-Davidson.