Lucas Oil rider Arana Jr. unable to defend Four-Wide Nationals title

CHARLOTTE, NC – Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Jr. had his eye set on back-to-back NHRA Four-Wide Nationals wins, but that dream was dashed after a quick round-two adjustment took him out of contention.

After winning in the first round of eliminations, the Lucas Oil Buell stumbled in the second round with a pass of 6.879 seconds at 195.14 mph to Hector Arana Sr., Eddie Krawiec, and Andrew Hines.

“We made an adjustment before round two that we thought was the right adjustment to make,” Arana said. “We actually softened up the clutch for that round, but then we go out there and it’s locked up more than we thought it would. Because of that we bog, which has never happened before.

“I really don’t know what happened when we got to the line, and that’s definitely why we lost. Now we have to try to figure out why that issue happened and how can we prevent it for the next races coming up. All we can do is go back home, study, and get ready for the next race in Atlanta.”

While it’s still early on in the 2014 Pro Stock Motorcycle season, Arana isn’t concerned about his team’s performance. Even though he fell short of making it to the final round, Arana realizes that his entire team is making gains to get themselves back in contention for wins.

“We’re starting to get a little bit better grasp on the clutch and working on getting the 60-foot section better and more consistent. I know we didn’t qualify No. 1 in Charlotte, but we ended up running low e.t. in Q4. We’re making progress this season and moving forward as far as performance goes. Now all we have to do is start going rounds.”

The next stop for Arana is May 16-18 for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.