Hector Arana Sr. fights through back trouble to qualify No. 7 in Chicago

CHICAGO – Despite battling a bad back this weekend, Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Sr. snared the No. 7 qualifying spot for the Lucas Oil Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway.

Arana likely pulled a muscle in his back lifting equipment earlier in the week, and he has been a little gimpy in Chicago, but he still was able to grab a top-half qualifying spot.

“It’s been hurting and everything,” Arana said. “But as soon as I get on that bike, I feel good. There’s no pain, there’s nothing.”

Arana’s best pass was 6.907 seconds at 193.54 mph, slotting him just behind his son, Hector Jr.

“The bike is not running as good as I want it to,” Arana said. “We rushed home after Norwalk and freshened up the motor — new pistons, honed the cylinders — so we’re still breaking it in, but each run we have made it kept getting better and better.”

And the best may come on Sunday. He’ll start eliminations against No. 10 qualifier Chaz Kennedy, whose best lap was 6.930 at 191.92 mph.

“I believe that we’re going to get quicker and quicker,” Arana said. “I’ve just got to take it one round at a time.”

The Aranas met each other in the final round here in 2014, but that can’t happen this year because they’re on the same side of the ladder. Still, they can meet in the semifinals.

“I told Hector that,” Arana said. “We needed that last run, one more. If I could’ve picked up and moved out of the way, we could’ve been on opposite sides, but if I meet him in the semifinals, that means one of us is going to the finals.”

Arana has already reached one final round in 2015, winning at Atlanta Dragway for his seventh career victory. He currently sits fifth in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings.