Arana matches top qualifying effort of 2014, faces Smith in Dallas first round

DALLAS, TX – ProtectTheHarvest.com Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Adam Arana matched his best qualifying effort of the season at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals on Saturday at Texas Motorplex.

Arana qualified No. 9 with a pass of 6.964 seconds at 190.62 mph, matching his performances of Atlanta and Norwalk, Ohio.

“We made a pretty good pass in Q1 on Friday,” Arana said. “We were in the top half of the field after that hit, and I’m pretty proud of that. I just wish we could’ve improved from then.”

Arana was fourth after the first session, but mysterious problems plagued him in the remaining three sessions.

One of the sessions also served as the first round of eliminations from the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals, the race postponed form zMax Dragway last weekend. Arana, the No. 10 qualifier from Charlotte, lined up against No. 7 qualifier Chaz Kennedy in that round on Friday. The two were engaged in a tight race, but Arana’s Buell began to drift left, even as the second-year rider wrestled the bike back in the groove.

But as Kennedy sped to the finish line with a pass of 6.992 seconds at 191.24 mph, Arana had to grab the clutch throttle past half-track. His official run was 8.139 at 113.93 mph.

“I hate that it happened,” Arana said. “Wrong place, wrong time. The bike wouldn’t go straight, and I fought it as long as I could. It didn’t make sense to keep fighting it, so I clutched it and coasted. Hate it, but there was nothing I could do.”

With the Charlotte race over, Arana focused on Dallas qualifying on Saturday. But the same problem cropped up in both hits Saturday, as Arana had trouble keeping his bike in the groove.

“It won’t go straight and we’re scratching our heads trying to figure out why,” Arana said. “We’ve gone over the bike from front to back, and we can’t find out the problem yet. But I’ve got some smart guys on our crew, and we’ll not stop working until we figure it out.”

For Dallas eliminations, Arana faces No. 9 qualifier Matt Smith in the first round. Smith’s best run was 6.960 seconds at 193.27 mph.

The two have raced each other four times this season, three in the first round. They’ve both won twice in 2014, though Arana is 2-1 in first-round matchups.