DALLAS – Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Hector Arana Sr. takes no pride in improving to 5-1 against one of the best riders in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Arana Sr. beat son Hector Arana Jr. in the first round of the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals Sunday at Texas Motorplex, winning for the fifth time in six first-round races this season against his talented son.

“Racing him again is not a good thing for me,” Arana Sr. said. “But anyway, I have to put that to the side and I’m always going to give it my best shot. I’m here to win, just like he feels the same way. We don’t cut slack to each other. We’re going to run and the better bike is going to cross the finish line, or the better driver at that moment.

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DALLAS – Lucas Oil Racing TV racer Hector Arana Jr. is taking a philosophical approach to another first-round matchup with his dad.

Arana Jr. qualified No. 6 for the AAA Texas FallNationals on Saturday at Texas Motorplex, and since his father Hector Arana Sr. qualified No. 11, they’ll battle in the first round of eliminations for the sixth time in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

“You know what, I’m out here racing with my dad, my family’s here, and I’m here doing what I love to do,” Arana Jr. said. “I guarantee one of us goes to the second round. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, let’s flip a coin and do our best job. May the best man move forward and hopefully win the race.”

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DALLAS – For the sixth time in this 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, father and son will square off in the first round.

Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Hector Arana Sr. qualified No. 11 Saturday, with son Hector Arana Jr. qualifying No. 6 for the AAA Texas FallNationals at Texas Motorplex. That means they’ll race each other in the first round of eliminations Sunday. Again.

“I can’t believe it,” Arana Sr. said. “I guess this year it’s Arana vs. Arana. It’s a shame – but one thing is for sure, one of the Lucas Oil bikes is going to the second round, so I would bet on Hector.”

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DALLAS – There are three races left in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, beginning with this weekend’s 31st annual AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals at Texas Motorplex, and Lucas Oil racer Hector Arana Sr. has a simple goal: Win them all.

“Hector (Arana Jr., son and teammate) and I have talked, and we know we’ve got three races left so we decided we want to make a statement,” Arana Sr. said. “We’re going to stay positive and go one run at a time and see if we can get to the finals and get a win or two or three.

“I am hungry for a win, and I really want to get a win. There are three left, so I want to see if I can go grab the three left. That’s my goal, and I know Hector feels the same way.”

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DALLAS – Lucas Oil Racing TV racer Hector Arana Jr. spent the days before the AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals this weekend at Texas Motorplex in quiet reflection.

No, Arana Jr. wasn’t thinking about his stellar career, which includes 11 victories and finishing in the top five in the final Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings all five years he’s been racing.

Instead, Arana was thinking about ways to get better.

“I feel really good,” Arana Jr. said. “I’ve been going over the last few races, wondering what’s been going on with me and these red lights. I feel like I’ve gotten over the red lights, and I feel really focused and ready to go racing this weekend.”

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READING, PA – Lucas Oil rider Hector Arana Sr. improved to 4-1 this season against one of the top Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Unfortunately, it’s his son, Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr.

Father beat son in the opening round of the Dodge NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway in the fifth first-round matchup between the Aranas in 2016, and if not for a broken oil-pump belt in the race in Charlotte, Arana Sr. could be 5-0 against his son.

“4-1: stinks for him, great for me, and the only win he has on me was due to a technicality, so it could have been 5-0, but we’ll never know,” Arana Sr. said. “Overall, it wasn’t a bad weekend. Got to see my son, Adam. He came up from New York to support us and we at least went two rounds for him.”

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READING, PA – So many times in drag racing, the final result comes down to thousandths of a second, and no one is feeling that sting more than Lucas Oil Top Fuel pro Richie Crampton, whose 3.778-second pass at 319.98 mph was barely eclipsed by Dom Lagana’s 3.774 at 323.97 mph in the first round of the 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals.

“I had a bit of trouble getting the car to inch into the stage beams,” Crampton said. “It just wouldn’t move, and when it finally went from ‘pre-stage’ to ‘stage’ the light came down almost instantly. It was probably the quickest tree I’ve seen all year.

“The tires did try to wad up early in the run because the track was so tight and good, but I kept my foot in it and we got through that danger area. The race was on and Dom got there first. It was close, but I’m kicking myself that I didn’t have a better reaction time. He got me by .022-second there, and if that had been turned the other way, then we would have easily won the race.”

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READING, PA – For the fifth time this season, father and son will have to race each other in the first round of Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Hector Arana Jr. qualified his Lucas Oil Racing TV bike in the No. 5 spot, and father Hector Arana Sr. qualified his Lucas Oil Buell in the No. 12 position for the Dodge NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Maple Grove Raceway. That means they’ll battle in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

“We’ll both go up there and do the best we can,” Arana Jr. said. “It’s all we can do. It’s frustrating, really frustrating, but it is what it is. At least we both qualified and one of us is in the second round. I’m not sure what to expect for tomorrow, but we’ll do our best, and that’s all we can do.”

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READING, PA – Usually, when rain wipes out three of the four scheduled qualifying sessions, as unfortunately has been the case with this weekend’s 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, drag racers get a little antsy about race day. But after qualifying No. 1 a week ago in St. Louis, Lucas Oil Top Fuel pro Richie Crampton feels pretty good about his chances when Sunday’s eliminations begin.

“It’s always a bit of a crapshoot for everyone when you only have one look at the track, but we feel really good about our race program at the moment,” Crampton said. “Based on what we were able to do in St. Louis, earning the pole and reaching the semifinals, we have a good bit of confidence in Aaron’s (Brooks, crew chief) ability to get us down the strip with a big time tomorrow.

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READING, PA – He may hail from Miami, but for the last year and a half, Hector Arana Jr. has called East Northport, Long Island, home, making this weekend’s 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals another “home race” for the established star in the drag racing’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

“I really kind of have two home races now, Englishtown (N.J.) and Reading, so that gives me two chances to win in my backyard,” said Arana, an 11-time national event winner. “I like that because we lived in Florida and I’ve won Gainesville before and we lived in Indiana and I won Indy also, so I want to win up here now that we live close by.”

Arana already has tasted success in Reading, as he raced to the victory circle back in 2011, but he wasn’t living in New York at the time. But all that changed when he got engaged to retired Pro Stock drag racer John Nobile’s daughter, Nicole.

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