Lucas Oil Racing TV’s Hector Arana Jr. scores second straight runner-up finish in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS – For the second consecutive year, Hector Arana Jr., the 28-year-old rider of the Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle, raced to the final round of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, the world’s biggest and most prestigious drag racing event.

Arana, the No. 3 qualifier for Labor Day Monday’s eliminations on NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ biggest stage, defeated Cory Reed, Scott Pollacheck, and Jerry Savoie respectively to reach the 11th final of his career. His vanquishing of Savoie in the semi-finals vaulted him up from fourth to third in Mello Yello championship points.

“I felt so good today, ” Arana said. “I felt good yesterday. I’m finally back on my game riding this bike and she’s bad to the bone. We did everything we could. We picked up from the semi-finals, and cut an .010 light in the final round – I wouldn’t have wanted any better of a light for Indy. We did everything we could.”

With his final-round ride at “the Big Go”, Arana secured the No. 3 position in the NHRA playoffs, the Countdown to the Championship, which begins at the next event in Charlotte and continues through five more events concluding in Pomona, Calif. in November. This year will mark Arana’s sixth appearance in the Countdown to the Championship.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and get ready for the Countdown,” Arana said. “If we keep this up, we have a really good shot at making a run for the championship. We just have to go one round at a time, one race at a time and keep our head on our shoulders like we did this weekend and we’ll be in a great spot for the big trophy at the end of the season. We are peaking at just the right time so I’m excited.”

Arana, a longtime resident of Indiana and a Purdue University graduate, has 10 NHRA national event wins in his seven-year career. He and wife Nicole live in East Northport, N.Y.