Arana Jr. focused on doing well, not Countdown standings

ST. LOUIS, IL – The rest of the Countdown to the Championship contenders can worry about the points standings, Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. said. He’s going to concern himself with doing the best job he can.

Arana is fourth in the points standings heading to the third race of the Countdown, the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park, but he knows the points will take care of themselves.

“If we worry about the points, we’re going to stress ourselves out,” Arana said. “We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is do our best and go rounds. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself. That’s how we’ve got to keep our mindset.”

Arana has been in the top five in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings all season, winning once and qualifying in the top three in nine of the 12 races to date, including qualifying No. 2 in both Countdown races. But a parts failure in Dallas ended Arana’s day in the first round, and Team Arana headed home to Corydon, Ind., to prepare for St. Louis.

“We packed up as quickly as we could,” Arana said. “Unfortunately, we all went out in the first round in Dallas. We rushed back to our shop to go through all the bikes.

“We’ll go through everything to make sure there are no issues. We’ll leave no stone unturned.”

That means late nights this week as the three-bike Arana team works to get ready for the third Countdown race.

“It’s definitely going to be a busy week,” Arana said. “We’ve got a lot of late hours, and we’re all going to have to work together as a team and get ‘er done.”

Arana was the No. 1 qualifier at Gateway in 2012 and hopes to start quickly this weekend.

“St. Louis is a fast track,” Arana said. “We’ve got to make sure all our motors are ready. We need to study all our notes and try to gather what’s going on with our tune-ups. That way we can nail it from the beginning and then tune it in with the three other qualifying runs and be ready for Sunday.”

Qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2:45 and 5:15 p.m., Friday, and 1:15 and 3:45 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations will start at approximately noon, Sunday, with both qualifying and elimination action broadcast on ESPN2 on tape-delay basis.