Arana vows to bounce back after Chicago disappointment

CHICAGO, IL – A disappointed Adam Arana vows to bounce back quickly after failing to qualify for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway.

For the first time in his Pro Stock Motorcycle career, the 22-year-old couldn’t make it into the 16-bike field after a myriad of issues hampered him in qualifying.

But Arana promises to get his ProtectTheHarvest.com/MAVTV Buell running better, and he’ll test here Monday in an effort to get a better tune-up.

“The only way we’re going to fix our issues is to be able to make runs down the track,” Arana said. “We’re going to stay on Monday and test, and we’re going to stay until we get it figured out.”

Arana knows the potential is there for him to be higher up the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder, as his brother and father both qualified in the top five this weekend.

“We all pretty much have the same three motors,” Arana said. “Hector is up on the top and dad is fifth, so there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be as high as everyone else. The only issue is tuning and that’s where we’re lacking.

“We have an inconsistent bike, and the only thing that’s going to fix it is laps. We can’t rely on qualifying laps to try and tune in our bike. Qualifying should be all about fine-tuning and getting a good qualifying position. It’s not for trying to change the world and figure out where we need to be.”

Arana’s problems began in the first qualifying session, when a balk clutch caused him to shut the engine off before making a run.

“The clutch got real hot and wasn’t fully disengaging the transmission,” Arana said. “It had pressure on the transmission and was trying to pull me forward. I knew once I got on the two-step, it would add more of a clutch load to the transmission, which would’ve caused me to drag through the beams and would’ve wasted the run.”

Arana then made a 7.050-second pass that would have made the race, but since it was outside the top 12 in Q2, he had to start from scratch Saturday. Arana got in the top 16 with a 7.081-second run at 191.88 mph in Q3 but was bumped out of the field during Q4.

Then it all went wrong as Arana pulled through the waterbox for his fourth qualifying effort. ESPN2 had gone live with coverage, and NHRA slowed the session, adding time between pairs of bikes.

Arana fired his engine in what he thought was an acceptable time, but NHRA told him to shut down.

“Miscommunication,” Arana said. “Going to live TV, I didn’t know they were going to have a long pause in between each pair. Usually they rush us and we get used to it. We get used to them being in a panic and in a rush, and before the other bikes even get past the finish line usually they’re telling us to start it up. That’s what we get used to and I thought we had the go-ahead.

“I looked over at Michael (Ray) and he looked over at me, and we shook our heads and started the bike. I thought we had the OK.”