Lucas Oil
Glimpse into a future on an EBR has Lucas Oil rider Hector Arana Jr. very excited
POMONA, CA – It happened by accident, but now that it’s working, no one is more excited about the future than 
Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr.
After detonating a motor in Friday’s first qualifying session of this weekend’s 53rd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals, Arana Jr. and crew discovered enough damage to their trusty Buell that they made the call to switch machines and finish the race with the EBR V-Twin Hector Arana Sr. captained two weeks ago in Las Vegas.
The first run Friday night — a 6.953/194.94 — was decent, but given a night to fine-tune the new bike to their horsepower, the team put together the best run they’ve ever had on the bike, a 6.828 at 198.15 mph, in Q3. Considering future plans call for the Buell to be retired permanently, this weekend is a great start on next year’s championship charge.
Lucas Oil named title sponsor for NHRA Winternationals
Corona, CA – Lucas Oil Products has signed a multi-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the NHRA Mello 
Yello Drag Racing Series national event held in Pomona, Calif., each February. Lucas Oil is a longstanding partner of NHRA supporting several ongoing drag racing series and events.
The 58th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com will be held February 8-11, 2018 and will kick off the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season. One of the most iconic events of the series, the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com is highly anticipated as race teams reveal new cars, introduce new drivers, and present new sponsors.
Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr. looking to grab spotlight in Pomona
POMONA, CA – Hector Arana Jr. has had a great 2017 campaign. He’s raced to four final rounds, earned low 
qualifier honors in Brainerd, and risen as high as third in the Mello Yello championship points. The only thing missing is a win, something he’d like to remedy this weekend at the 53rd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals.
“I want to win in the worst way,” Arana Jr. said. “It would be the perfect way to end the year. I’ve won Pomona before (in 2014) and I think we showed in Las Vegas that our bike and our engines are right where they need to be to give us the chance. It’s simply a matter of everything coming together in
one weekend.”
Hector Arana Jr. rides Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell to runner-up finish in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Hector Arana Jr. emerged from a two-race funk in grand style Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor 
Speedway, racing his Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell to final round of the 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals before settling for runner-up honors to points leader and pending champion Eddie Krawiec.
“This was a great rebound weekend for us,” Arana Jr. said. “It’s just crazy how drag racing goes because there really wasn’t anything drastically different when we weren’t running well to what we did this weekend when everything started clicking again. It just felt like luck returned to our side and I do believe we made our own luck so we’re very happy to have our bike back in top form.”
Happy returns seem to be the theme with riders Hector Arana Jr., Hector Arana Sr.
LAS VEGAS – On a weekend that featured the return of his championship-winning father Hector Arana Sr. after a 
five-month sabbatical due to shoulder surgery, Hector Arana Jr. has returned to the form that made him a title contender for much of this season.
“We’re both on the rebound,” said Arana Jr., who was as high as third in the championship points until back-to-back first-round losses knocked him back to mid-pack. “It’s unfortunate we had to go through that down spell in the middle of the Countdown where we were struggling so much but I think it’s safe to say we are back. The bike is back. My lights are back. It all came back. All I can say is we
are happy.”
Arana Jr. qualified his Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell a lofty second on the grid with a 6.940 at 191.87 mph, outpacing all but one of the bikes ahead of him in the points. It’s the same sort of performance he had at almost every race this year, save the last two.
Guess whose back again? Hector’s back, tell a friend…
LAS VEGAS – Veteran drag racer and fan favorite Hector Arana Sr., the 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, 
is returning to action at this weekend’s 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals after completing his rehabilitation following shoulder surgery. Arana Sr. has been off the NHRA tour since early June.
“Feeling good,” Arana Sr. said. “Time for the old man to have some more fun. There are some things we want to try, both for these last two races in regards to what (Hector Jr.) is doing and stuff we think will help us next year. Rather than experiment with his bike during qualifying sessions we can use my bike and keep him in race mode.”
Arana Sr. tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder while changing a flat tire on the Lucas Oil team’s race hauler in early June following the NHRA National event in Englishtown, N.J. He’s been on the mend ever since.
Hector Arana Jr. doesn’t have to go far to find inspiration for drag racing
LAS VEGAS – The road to an NHRA championship is tough. There are ever-changing mechanical hurdles, the most 
intense head-to-head competition on earth and the constant stress of keeping the proper funding in place.
For seven-year veteran Hector Arana Jr., finding the impetus to carry on year after year is never far away, and it’s something he carries with him into every race, including this weekend’s 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“My dad raced 19 years before he ever won a race,” Arana Jr. said, referencing his teammate, Hector Arana Sr. “He raced 20 years to get his first championship. I’ve only been out here seven years and I’ve already won 11 times. I won three times in my rookie year. When you take a step back and look at my career, how can I complain?”
Hector Arana Jr. humbled and steadfast after Dallas
DALLAS – During Sunday’s eliminations of the AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals at the Texas Motorplex, Pro Stock 
Motorcycle championship contender Hector Arana Jr., rider of the Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell, got an unwelcome reminder of how being a competitor in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series can be an incredibly humbling experience.
Going into today’s race day, Arana, a 28-year-old resident of East Northport, New York, had his two-wheeled rocket qualified in the No. 8 spot and looked to make his way through the day with a chance to win his first event of the season. Unfortunately, that plan took a swift detour in the first round after Arana lost on a holeshot to Karen Stoffer despite having a quicker bike on the track.
“A rider knows when he is late,” Arana said. “You can just feel it, and I thought I had a good light. When I got to the end of the track and they told me my reaction time was a .062 and she won on a holeshot, I was sick to my stomach. I let my team down.”
Rematch of St. Louis on tap for Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr.
DALLAS – Hector Arana Jr. will have a great chance to exact some revenge in Sunday’s opening round of 
eliminations for the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals when he faces Karen Stoffer for the second race in a row. Arana fell to Stoffer in the opening round of the last national event in St. Louis and he knows he needs to avenge that loss to keep this year’s championship hopes alive.
“I usually never look to see who I’m racing because it really doesn’t matter who is in the other lane if we do our job right,” Arana said. “But I was told it was Karen so we’ll prepare as we normally do and hopefully we’ll get the win this time around. Maybe I owe her one after St. Louis. Either way, we need to win Round 1 and go a bunch more rounds tomorrow, no matter who we’re racing.”
Arana actually had never lost to Stoffer until two weeks ago, with his lifetime mark against the veteran now at 8-1. Just as it was in St. Louis, Arana has lane choice as the No. 8 qualifier, with his 6.900 at 192.80 mph besting her 6.914 at 193.02 mph. Stoffer is qualified ninth at this event.
Hector Arana Jr. anxious to get back on track at AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals
DALLAS – Perhaps no one in the NHRA’s professional ranks is more anxious for this weekend’s 32nd annual AAA 
Texas NHRA Fallnationals then championship contender Hector Arana Jr. Coming off his first Round 1 loss in six months, Arana Jr. is dead-set on proving the doubters wrong with a quick return to the top form he’s displayed for most of the 2017 season.
“No question we had a bit of bad luck and it was bad timing for that to happen to us in St. Louis but all we can do, what we’re going to do, is look forward and move forward,” Arana Jr. said. “Of course, it’s still possible to win the championship but we’re not going to race with that in mind. It never works. Nothing to do with winning the championship will change the decisions we make at the racetrack.
