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Lucas Oil pro Arana Sr. experiences range of emotions in Sonoma

SONOMA, CA – Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. experienced the gamut of emotions on Saturday at the NHRA Arana SrSonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.

He made his best pass of the weekend in the third qualifying session, a lap of 6.862 seconds at 196.73 to earn the No. 8 qualifying spot, but that run also served as the first round of eliminations for the MiraMonte Records NHRA Pro Bike Battle, where Arana had to race his son. Arana won that round in a bittersweet battle against Hector Jr.

“I had to race my son and I was not looking forward to that,” Arana said. “But I know one of us has to win and I know he wants to beat me, too. It was kind of sad for me. I think if it would’ve been a lot closer, where you couldn’t tell who won, it would’ve been easier to take.”

Neither rider had good reaction times, but Arana got the jump and never trailed, as Hector Jr.’s pass was a 6.871 at 197.91 mph.

Arana then faced Andrew Hines in the semifinals of the Pro Bike Battle. Arana had a big lead on the starting line, with his .031-second reaction giving him a .050 advantage. That’s usually more than enough to win in Pro Stock Motorcycle, but Arana’s pass of 6.920 at 196.53 mph could not hold off Hines’ winning run of 6.853 seconds at 195.45 mph.

“I’m OK with it,” Arana said. “I would’ve been happier had it been my win, but I did my job as a driver and had a better reaction. But the bike did not run as good as the Harley-Davidson did.

“We need to find more power, bottom line. We’ve got to do better, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

For Arana, that work includes racing his son again. Hector Jr. qualified No. 9 with a pass of 6.871 seconds at 197.91 mph, meaning the two will line up against each other in Round 1. Sonoma marks the third time in four races they have raced one another, with Hector Jr. winning in the final in Chicago before Arana won in the second round in Denver.

“We’re not going to choose and we’re just going to go for it,” Arana said. “Whoever has the best run will be the winner.”

Final eliminations begin at noon, Sunday. ESPN2 will carry all elimination action.

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