IN
THE
WIND
P40
ARANA JR. KEEPS
TITLE HOPES ALIVE IN
LAS VEGAS
N
HRA drag racing is a straight-line sport
but as far as the Pro Stock Motorcycle
Championship is concerned, the 2018
season has had more than its fair share of
twists and turns. At the Toyota Nationals
in Las Vegas, October 26-28, the penulti-
mate race of the season, Lucas Oil EBR's
Hector Arana Jr. kept his championship hopes alive
with a final-round win over Screamin' Eagle Harley-
Davidson's Eddie Krawiec. Arana dominated the
event from start to finish by qualifying number one
with a 6.845-second elapsed time and winning the
final with a 6.885 to Krawiec's 6.911. The win was
Arana's 14th in NHRA competition since his debut
in 2011.
"This win was huge. It was exactly what we
needed," Arana said. "We've had a great bike all
season, but we haven't always been consistent.
We did a great job in qualifying and that set the
tone for race day. My bike was really good and that
gave me the confidence we needed. I had great
[reaction times] in qualifying and that carried over
today."
Arana's path to the final round was anything but
easy. Following his round-one win against Mark
Paquette, he raced current points leader Matt
Smith and then had to deal with Krawiec's Harley-
Davidson teammate Andrew Hines in the semi final
round. In each race, Arana had the quicker bike.
"When I had to race Matt Smith, I knew I was
going to beat him," Arana Jr. said. "We missed
the setup a little in the first round but we knew
what changes we needed to make and we figured
the bike was going to step up. I just figured that
if I stayed focused we were going to win and I
did. Then, we made some big moves for the final
against Eddie. Again, we knew what the issue was
and how to fix it and it all worked smoothly."
The Arana team has struggled at recent events,
but they were nearly unbeatable in Las Vegas.
While Hector Jr. won the race, his father, Hector
Sr., reached the semifinal round for the first time
this season. The elder Arana lost a close race to
Krawiec, preventing a Team Arana final round.
As a result of the Las Vegas race, the points
battle heading into the final event in Pomona, Cali-
fornia, is a toss-up. Matt Smith remains the leader,
but his advantage over second-place Krawiec is
just four points. Despite a rare early loss, Nitro Fish
Suzuki's LE Tonglet remains a contender 61-points
back and Arana Jr. is fourth, 64-points behind the
leader. The Pomona event features points-and-a-
half for pro competitors which means that even
Arana Jr. is approximately two rounds out of first
place.
"All I could think about was finding a way to get
our bike to be more consistent. I'm still trying not
to think about it too much. I'm looking forward to
Pomona but my goal is just to qualify well and win
rounds on Sunday," Arana said.
Despite the loss in the final, Krawiec remains
optimistic that he'll be able to bring home his fifth
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle title.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Hector Arana Jr. (EBR)
2. Eddie Krawiec (H-D)
