Cycle News

IN THE WIND P34 ARANA JR. BEGINS PLAYOFF PUSH WITH READING NHRA WIN A fter earning just one win during the 10-race "regular season" of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competi- tion, Lucas Oil EBR's Hector Arana Jr. picked the right time to get hot when he outlasted the competition at the Dodge NHRA nationals in Reading, Pennsyl- vania, September 14-16. By taking the 13th win of his career, Arana jumped to second in the points standings following the first race in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA's six-race playoff to determine the season champion. In the final round in Reading, Arana rode to a 6.842-second run at 197.74 mph to defeat low qualifier Matt Smith, who had a fuel line come off his bike during the run, causing him to slow to a 7.306 at just 145.88. Arana now trails leader Eddie Krawiec by just three points in the championship. "What matters are the wins in the Countdown and that's what we're work- ing on," said Arana Jr., who earned his second win in Reading. "We're working on consistency and we've been work- ing on that all year. We've got a strong championship contender with this bike and I can't thank my team enough. They work super, super hard. We're definitely working really hard for a championship." Arana Jr. opened eliminations with a win against Ron Tornow and had one of the quicker bikes in the quarterfinal round with a 6.885 run to defeat Yello Corn Buell's Joey Gladstone, who recently joined Cory Reed's Liberty Racing squad after spending the first two-thirds of the season with the Stof- fer/Underdahl team. Arana's biggest round win came with four bikes remain- ing when he topped Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's Eddie Krawiec, the reigning champ and incoming points leader. Arana used another 6.88-sec- ond run to narrowly edge Krawiec's 6.90. Ironically, Arana's father, Hector Sr., did not qualify for the Reading field, but he insists the lack of a second bike did little to change the team's race-day strategy. "My dad and I always share in- put from one another and that didn't change, even though he wasn't rid- ing on Sunday," Arana Jr. said. "It was tough for him but we made the best of it. I like to think my win helped make up for him not qualifying. He definitely seemed like he was in a better mood after we won it." Earlier this year, Arana Jr. became the first rider in the class to officially run over 200-mph and he has since made numerous he 200-mph runs, but wins have been hard to come by. "I definitely have had a lot of great accomplishments in my career, but I think the only thing that is lacking now is a championship. I think we can do it this year." Smith didn't get the win, but he ac- complished just about everything else he could do in Reading. The two-time NHRA champ qualified number one in the quick field and rode to his 47th career final round with wins over John Hall, Steve Johnson and Nitro Fish Hector Arana Jr. scored an important win to kick off NHRA's Countdown to the Championship in Pennsylvania.

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