Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/339119
NHRA MELLOW YELLO PRO STOCK SERIES and it opened the door for the Arana bikes to move into the final. Arana Jr., the number- two qualifier in the 16-bike field, opened eliminations with a strong 6.873 in his win over Gainesville champ Steve Johnson and fol- lowed with a 6.894 to de- feated Krawiec's Harley teammate, Andrew Hines, who struggled to find the combination all weekend in the hot and humid con- ditions at Route 66 Race- way. Arana Jr. earned a spot in his 14th final round when he stopped Gann's Speed Buell's Shawn Gann, 6.888 to 5.958. Arana Sr., seeking his first win since his cham- pionship season in 2009, VOL. 51 ISSUE 26 JULY 1, 2014 P89 Briefly... Adam Arana botched his burn- out on consecutive runs, a prob- lem that his father, Hector Sr., quickly diagnosed. Arana Sr. said that Adam was waiting too long to start his burnout after rolling through the water box. "He's let- ting the tire get dry and in this hot weather, that doesn't take more than a few seconds," said Arana Sr. "He understands what to do now." Shockingly, Adam Arana failed to qualify for the first time in his career. After sitting out Sunday's elimina- tions at the last two events due to parts breakage, Bad Boy Buggies Suzuki's Jimmy Underdahl re- turned in Joliet and turned in a sol- id effort even though he fell short against Andrew Hines in round one. Underdahl's father and crew chief, Greg, was appreciative that several teams offered assistance during their recent struggles. "Right now, we don't have a spare engine, but we'll have one next week in Norwalk. I appreciate that everyone has offered to help, but that's just not something that I want to do. I don't want to be responsible for someone else's stuff." Shawn Gann continued his re- cent habit of sitting out qualifying sessions by pulling his Buell out of line in Q3. Gann says that the move is strictly a way to cut costs and allow him to compete in all 16 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle races. Swedish rider Elvira Karlsson made the ESPN television high- lights but not the way she wanted to after almost crashing her Suzu- ki during Friday's qualifying. At the end of a 7.11-second pass, Karls- son's bike began pitching violently from side-to-side in the shutdown area. The 19-year-old rookie fought to regain control of the bike and managed to get it stopped with no damage. At first glance, it appeared that Karlsson had hurt an engine and possibly slid in her own oil due to a large volume of white smoke behind her bike, but crew chief Gary Stoffer said that wasn't the case. Stoffer also discounted the theory that she'd locked up the brakes. "At first, I thought we'd hurt the engine, but it was fine and she never locked up the brakes, either. As near as I can figure, she just leaned one way to keep the bike from drifting to the wall and it started to wash out from underneath her. She did a good job hanging on." There were 22 bikes attempting to qualify for 16 spots and those who did not make the cut includ- continued on next page Hector Arana Jr. and Hector Arana met in the finals for the first time, with son beating the father.