from our mistake and come out
[Sunday] with a really fast, con-
sistent bike," Arana said. "That
gives you all the confidence in
the world as a rider, knowing you
have a good bike beneath you
and that when you let the clutch
out, it's going to do what it's sup
-
posed to do and go right down
the track. This GETTRX Buell,
she was on a line, straight down
the track every time. That gave
me the confidence I need to get
the win today."
Arana and his family team
spent most of the 2022 season
searching for the proper fund
-
ing to not only go to the races,
but to be competitive once they
got there. They found what
they were looking for in Steve
Bryson's GETTRX Credit Card
processing. Arana went on to
win two of the final three events
last season, so it wasn't surpris
-
ing to see him find the winner's
circle early in 2023.
Prior to racing Johnson in
the final, Arana earned wins
against Wes Wells, as well as
the husband-and-wife team
of Matt and Angie Smith, with
whom he's had a spirited rivalry.
The race against Matt Smith's
Denso Suzuki was especially
memorable since it was also one
of the closest of the day with
Arana winning by a slim 6.82 to
6.83 margin.
As for Johnson, he missed
out on an opportunity to score
a second-straight win, but did
manage to make the final by
beating rookie Chase Van Sant,
along with Vance & Hines Su
-
zuki's Eddie Krawiec and Scrap-
pers Suzuki's Jianna Evaristo.
The Norwalk event was not
particularly kind to the Vance &
Hines team, especially cham-
pionship leader Gaige Herrera.
The second-year rider came out
swinging with wins at the first
three races of the season in
Gainesville, Charlotte and Chi-
cago. Herrera also went to the
final round in Bristol where his
14-round win streak ended with
a red-light start against Steve
Johnson. This time, Herrera
slowed to a 6.98 in the second
round and fell victim to Evaristo's
competitive 6.89-second run.
Despite the loss, Herrera still
holds a generous 189-point lead
over Arana in the Camping World
NHRA standings, while Johnson
is third, 194 points back. The se-
ries will resume July 14-16 at the
Mopar Mile-High Nationals at
Denver's Bandimere Speedway.
Kevin McKenna
Final
1. Hector Arana, Jr. (Bue)
2. Steve Johnson (Suz)
VOLUME ISSUE JUNE , P21
