Lucas Oil Buell riders looking for wins in Vegas

Published October 27, 2015

Lucas Oil’s Hector Arana Jr. hopes to come out ahead in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – After a strange set of circumstances ended his day early at Texas Motorplex, Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. is ready to bounce back during this weekend’s NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Arana’s clutch lever malfunctioned in the first round in Dallas, though he was able to get the round-win when his opponent slowed early in his run. That was the first time Arana had experienced trouble with his clutch lever, and though he and the team replaced it, it was not completely unexpected that he red-lighted in the next round, given the lever was working better than he anticipated.

Arana, however, will be ready to handle it in Las Vegas.

“The bike’s back to reacting how it’s supposed to react,” Arana said. “It’s almost like you’ve got to start all over again. You’ve got to adjust the clutch to slow the bike down because you shouldn’t slow yourself down. Your clutch tune-up changes a little bit because of how the clutch is coming in.

“Now, we’ve got that fixed, and we’ll go to Vegas and hopefully in four runs we can get it dialed in and get back on top. We’ll try to have a good weekend.”

Arana’s early exit left him fourth in the points standings, 81 out of the lead with two races remaining in the season, but like in Dallas, Arana isn’t thinking about points. Instead, he’s focused on improving his bike and trying to notch his third victory of the season.

“I know Vegas is a slower track because of the higher altitude,” Arana said. “It’s Halloween weekend, so it’s a fun weekend. Let’s go out there and try to have fun and have a good weekend.”

Arana had fun the last time he was in Vegas, and it had nothing to do with the race.

“Last time, I was able to go out there early,” Arana said. “I brought $500 with me, and I was there for a week. My brother and some friends came out, and we had a good time. I was able to play the whole weekend, pay for my food and everything with that $500, and I left with $600. It was pretty cool.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying sessions are scheduled for 12:15 and 3:45 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Eliminations are scheduled to begin at noon, Sunday. All racing action will be shown on ESPN2.
Hector Arana Sr. working hard to find speed in Lucas Oil Buell

LAS VEGAS – The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season is coming to a close, but don’t expect Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. to slow down. If anything, Arana wants to speed up at the penultimate race of 2015, the NHRA Toyota Nationals this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“We have to look at it differently now,” Arana said. “We need to do something off the charts to see what happens. All I’ve been thinking about is what to do: Thinking about the clutch, thinking about the motor, thinking about what it needs. I need to do something so it can go fast. Then, we’ll be back on top.”

Arana is eighth in the class points standings, which means he probably won’t win his second championship this year, but he does have one victory this season and wants some more.

Arana is also looking for some answers with his Lucas Oil Buell after struggling to find speed at the last two races. He reached the final round in St. Louis — losing to son Hector Jr. — but hasn’t qualified in the top half of the field at the last two races, winning only one round.

“We’ve got the power,” Arana said. “I know we’ve got the power. I don’t know what happened, but we have lost the tune-up a little bit. We’re behind some and we’re having some issues with the 60-foot times. That’s killing us.”

Arana, though, is not one to give up. He’ll take every approach, conventional and unconventional, to try to find more speed.

“The bike is not responding,” Arana said. “It’s not just one, it’s both bikes. We’re not getting the 60-foot that we’re used to. We’ve got plenty of notes, and we try to go through those notes and duplicate it, but things are not repeating. It’s not giving us the info that we need.”

Arana still will have a smile on his face this weekend, especially on Saturday when the Pro Stock Motorcycle class dresses up for Halloween.

“That’s a cool event,” Arana said. “It’s a great facility, and you have everything around that you could possibly want. But it’s also Halloween, and to dress up and see the kids and all that, that puts a smile on my face. I act like a kid.”

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