Arana Jr. proves determined in Dallas with consecutive No. 2 qualifying spot

DALLAS, TX – Leaving the postponed Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals last weekend as one of the quickest qualifiers, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. picked up right where he left off during the first two days of the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.

After a first-round win in the makeup Charlotte rounds over Shawn Gann, Arana was unable to keep the momentum alive with a loss to Chaz Kennedy in the quarterfinals during Q3.

However, Arana is having a major case of déjà vu this weekend. His Q1 pass of 6.855 seconds at 194.63 mph propelled him into the No. 2 qualifying spot once again for the second weekend in a row. If that wasn’t enough, Arana will face off against No. 15 Gann again in the first round of the NHRA FallNationals with a chance of a second-round rematch against Kennedy.

“Well, we were racing Charlotte at Dallas and I really don’t like doing that,” Arana said. “I like my qualifying sessions. Qualifying allows me to really push the light. I’m able to see where I am because every track is a little different and I like to push it. Because we were racing right away, I didn’t want to just go after it and red-light. I didn’t know what my limitations were. That kind of bit me in the butt, being afraid of red-lighting, and I lost the round.

“You know what though, everybody had to do the same thing. We went past the first round, so all we have to do is leave that behind us now, stay focused, look forward, and do well at this race.”

Even though he wasn’t able to advance to the semifinal round of Charlotte, it freed Arana up to push the limits in the last qualifying session like he would on a typical race weekend. With some of the weekend’s worst track conditions, Arana was able to lay down a 6.880-second pass at 195 mph, the fastest speed of the weekend.

“We kind of gathered ourselves back together after the Q3 loss,” Arana said. “I went for it at the tree in Q4 and had a pretty good light. We made a nice pass down the track to grab top speed of the meet, and a low 6.880 makes it the second-best e.t. for the session.

“We definitely have something to work off of, and I think we’ll have a good race bike tomorrow.”

Final eliminations are scheduled to kick off at noon with delayed coverage on ESPN2.