Father and son put Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycles in top half of Atlanta field

ATLANTA – The Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle team charges into the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway with two bikes in the top half of the field.

Hector Arana Jr., who holds the PSM national speed record, qualified No. 3 and his father Hector Arana Sr. qualified No. 7.

Hector Jr. set the speed record of 199.88 mph in Charlotte last month, and he was fast again in Atlanta. His best pass was 6.893 seconds at 196.73 mph, and it came in some of the warmest conditions of the weekend in the final qualifying session.

“We had some engine issues Friday,” Hector Jr. said. “Today we made some changes, and the bike liked it. We’re just tweaking on it, and we seem to be improving every time. We had a little issue with the throttle sticking, so we had to rush up to make the pass, but we’ll definitely be ready for tomorrow. It keeps getting better every run.”

Hector Jr. squares off against No. 14 qualifier Matt Smith, whose best pass was 6.987 seconds at 189.84 mph.

Hector Sr. gets defending series champion Andrew Hines, who qualified No. 10 with a run of 6.941 seconds at 193.10 mph. Hector Sr.’s best run was 6.909 seconds at 195.62 mph in Q3.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class has battled hot conditions this weekend as high temperatures and humidity has replaced the usual Atlanta rain. The class, racing after more than a month off, somewhat expected the rain, but the hot weather has teams scrambling.

“It’s been one thing after another, especially with the long break,” Hector Sr. said. “Then you come back and the weather has changed drastically, and you’re starting all over again from scratch. But we’re doing better each run, and there are more improvements to be made so we can pick up the e.t.”

It could get even warmer for Sunday’s eliminations.

“We’ll have to wait and see what the weather throws us,” Hector Sr. said. “We’ll definitely keep an eye on it and then make a tune-up call.”

Hector Jr., too, has battled the heat, but he’ll take it over wet weather any day.

“It does change everything,” he said, “but as long as there’s no rain, I’m happy.”