Lucas Oil Racing TV pro Hector Arana Jr.  the early star at Lucas Oil Nationals

BRAINERD, MN – Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. entered this weekend’s 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals hoping to make a mark at his title sponsor’s main event. So far, so good, for the decorated pilot of the Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell as he streaked to the provisional pole with a 6.879 at 194.24 mph.

“This is a great start for us,” Arana said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been up to the pressroom (as the No. 1 qualifier) so it feels good to finally do it again. We’ve been No. 1 a total of 18 times in the past but just not this year. We keep getting edged out. Hopefully, we can improve on this tomorrow and hold everyone off this time.”

Arana has ended up as the No. 2 qualifier at four of the last five events. The other race he was third. So being No. 1 at a track he always circles as one of his favorites isn’t a total surprise.

“We arrived with two new motors and they both showed us better numbers on the dyno than the motor we used in Sonoma when I ran the best elapsed time of my career so it’s nice to see it working on the racetrack,” Arana said. “We actually could have put up an equally good number up on the scoreboards in Round 1 but the bike didn’t shift into high gear. Anyway, we fixed that issue and made a great pass just now so we’re happy.”

Even though he missed a gear in Round 1, Arana still finished the session with the second-best pass overall — a 6.953 at 187.29 mph. He left nothing to doubt in his second run, taking his red, white and blue bike straight down the groove.

Qualifying will continue Saturday with two sessions scheduled for 12:45 and 3:45 p.m. at Brainerd International Raceway. Weather forecasts call for sunshine and moderate temperatures, a welcome change from Friday’s on-and-off rain showers.

“No matter what the weather does, we’ll be ready to roll,” Arana said. “If it gets better than we’ll get quicker. The main thing is to get ourselves prepared for race day but I’m not going to lie and say we’re not aiming for keeping this No. 1 spot this race. It’s an important event for everyone at Lucas Oil, including us.”

Arana, an 11-time winner on the NHRA tour, has recorded two runner-up results this year, in Englishtown, N.J., and Chicago. He currently ranks third in the Mello Yello championship standings.

FOX Sports 1 will carry the final two rounds of qualifying from 6-8 p.m., Saturday. Live eliminations will air from 1-4 p.m., Sunday. (All times are local and subject to change.)