CHICAGO, IL – A little bit of drag racing history was made Sunday evening at Route 66 Raceway when Hector Arana Jr. beat his father Hector Arana Sr. in the Pro Stock Motorcycle finale of the 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals. It was the first time in class history that a father/son duo lined up with the trophy on the line.
“It really didn’t matter who won because either way we were bringing a Wally (trophy) home to Indiana,” said Arana Jr., a 25-year-old, fourth-year pro. “We’ve been talking about getting to the final together since I started racing and we finally got it done, which is really cool, but to be honest I would have much rather beaten one of the other riders. It would feel a lot better than it does beating my dad.”

Arana Jr. last tasted victory at last year’s Sonoma (Calif.) race while his father hasn’t won since the Dallas event in 2009. Both men ride identically-prepared Lucas Oil Buells, although at this race Arana Jr.’s bike was slightly quicker than his 55-year-old father’s mount.

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CHICAGO, IL – Lucas Oil Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan may be having a difficult season on the track, but he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

The veteran lost in the first round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway to Jeg Coughlin Jr., but Morgan joked that he let his fellow Ohioan win.

“I did good off the line,” Morgan said. “But I put it in second gear because I thought I was going to beat him.”

Morgan and Coughlin — the defending Pro Stock champion — had identical reaction times of .012-second, but Coughlin sped away to the victory with a pass of 6.606 seconds at 209.72 mph.

Morgan’s pass was 6.680 seconds at 207.27 mph, matching his best speed of the weekend, but it wasn’t enough.

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CHICAGO, IL- Route 66 Raceway holds a lot of good memories for Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr., and he hopes to add to those during final eliminations on Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

Arana, who met his girlfriend Nicole Nobile here four years ago, qualified No. 2 on Saturday with a pass of 6.941 seconds at 190.32 mph. That’s his third consecutive No. 2 qualifying spot and his fourth of the season in six races.

Plus, his four qualifying runs were within .059-second, giving Arana a consistent Buell heading into race day.

“We’ve finally found a pretty good combination,” Arana said. “It seems to repeat and be consistent. We were right there fighting for the No. 1 spot. We’re giving it our all. We’re running the best for what we have.”

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CHICAGO, IL- Past Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana Sr. qualified No. 5 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway, but he is looking for more speed from his Lucas Oil Buell.

Arana grabbed the No. 5 spot with a pass of 6.959 seconds at 192.74 mph and hopes he can improve during Sunday’s eliminations.

“I’m going to think real carefully about what to do for tomorrow,” Arana said. “I know that the potential is definitely there. If I can get the clutch going, I’ll be in good shape.”

Arana’s qualifying pass came in the first session on Friday, but despite a concerted effort to improve he couldn’t get the bike to go faster.

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CHICAGO, IL – Considering he’s routinely competing against drivers and teams with budgets that dwarf his small, family-oriented operation, it’s a remarkable achievement for Larry Morgan to even qualify for an NHRA national event, but at this weekend’s 17th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Morgan has done it again, earning the 14th spot for his Lucas Oil Mustang in the last time trial to keep his perfect qualifying streak alive.

“It’s not luck, it’s pure skill,” Morgan said with a laugh. “Sure we don’t have the budget some of these top teams have, but we give ’em hell with what we got and you’re darn right we’re proud of qualifying for every race.

“The goal out here is to win, of course, but you can’t win anything if you don’t have a dog in the hunt, and at least we’re there fighting every weekend. Gosh, if you gave us a big budget there’s no telling what we could do. I’d love to find out.”

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CHICAGO, IL – After a complete renovation of his car last weekend, Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan is feeling more confident about his chances of winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals, June 26-29, at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago.

While the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang went for a wild ride in Epping, N.H., last weekend, Morgan recovered and is ready to put it behind him. He isn’t fazed by past results or issues; instead, he constantly looks for positive aspects and continually builds off of them.

“I feel better about going to Chicago after Sunday in Epping,” Morgan said. “If I hadn’t been able to make the clean pass I did in round one of eliminations, I wouldn’t have felt good about leaving Epping.

“It was a tough weekend for us, but we were able to figure out the problem and get it fixed when it mattered. Now we look forward to this weekend and to try it all over again. We’ll be good to go, that’s for sure.”

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CHICAGO, IL – After racing his way to the semifinals last year in Chicago, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. is excited to show off the progress he has made this season and repeat his success when he returns for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals, June 26-29, at Route 66 Raceway.

Hours of hard work are paying off for Arana Racing, as all three of their bikes made it to the second round of final eliminations in Epping, N.H., last weekend. With aspirations of a Pro Stock Motorcycle championship on his mind, Arana feels like this is the closest they have been all year.

“I’m pumped a little bit for this weekend,” Arana said. “We have made some obvious improvements the last few races and only have a little bit more to go. We’re really thinking hard about what to do next. I’m just happy to be competitive once again like I know we should be.”

While Arana feels like he can put the hammer down on his Lucas Oil Buell this weekend, he still is concerned about his son’s chances as well, especially his youngest, Adam.

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CHICAGO, IL – Another semifinal appearance during the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season has Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. optimistic about grabbing the victory at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals, June 26-29, at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago.

While Epping, N.H., was successful for the whole team, Arana knows that conditions won’t be as favorable for Pro Stock Motorcycles this weekend. However, after a good showing in Chicago last year, he feels the team will be able to manage whatever gets thrown at them.

“We’re going to dig back in our notes for the Chicago race,” Arana said. “All three of the bikes ran well there last year, so we will definitely want to try to recreate that scenario but hopefully with a better ending.

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EPPING, NH – Thanks to a fast bike all weekend, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. drew in even closer to capturing his first win of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

The Lucas Oil Buell looked the best it had all year when it pulled a 6.827 at 194.80 mph against Jerry Savoie in the first round and an even quicker 6.808 at 196.47 mph in the second round against John Hall.

With the hopes of making it to his first final round this year, Arana unfortunately came up short against Matt Smith in the semi’s when his bike wouldn’t shift.

“Today was good even though we started off a little slow,” Arana said. “We made a change after the first round that was going to be a good change once we got the hang of it. Because of that, I was able to go low e.t. of the round with an .80.

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EPPING, NH – Larry Morgan put down his best pass of the weekend in the first round of the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to beat Erica Enders-Stevens.

During qualifying, Morgan had trouble getting down the track and got out of the groove in the first session, ending up in the other lane. In the first round of eliminations against Enders-Stevens, Morgan’s Lucas Oil Pro Stock ran a 6.563 at 211.76, which was better than any of his qualifying runs.

“We got loose in the middle of the track,” Morgan said. “And I was so excited that I was going down the track. I probably better not say, but I was really excited. At least we got down the track and we hadn’t done that all week here, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

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