Lucas Oil’s Hector Arana Sr. sees red in Pomona first round

POMONA, CA – Things weren’t looking up for Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Hector Arana Sr. Instead of his Lucas Oil Buell lurching forward on the starting line in the first round of the Auto Club NHRA Finals on Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, it went up. That brought a red light and ended his day – and his season – way too early.

“I don’t feel bad, and I’m not mad at myself,” Arana Sr. said. “It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen now and then. Everything, the rpm, the traction, the tire temperature, it was perfect. The bike usually rolls forward. We have more rpm or more clutch and it lets the bike roll forward and then you break the beam. But this time when I dropped the clutch, I felt it hit the (wheelie) bar, it came up instantly, and I knew it.

“I said, ‘Oh, no.’ and I looked and sure enough I’ve red-lighted and I know why it happened. Rpm was right, temperature was right, traction was right, and I just dropped the clutch and it went up instead of rolling forward.”

Officially, Arana Sr. left .031 seconds too soon, and Matt Smith got the victory. Arana Sr. made a good pass, 6.871 seconds at 196.62 mph, but the damage had already been done.

Arana Sr. and Smith had to wait in the staging lanes for several minutes before their race, as Chip Ellis lost his brakes and went into the sandtrap and netting at the top end of the race track. Ellis was fine, but Arana Sr. checked his brakes several times before his run.

“I watched what happened and when I saw him after the cloud and the dust settled and he was walking away from it, then I was already calm,” Arana Sr. said. “I know things can happen and I never want to see this happen to any fellow racer but the main thing is he walked out on his own so that already calmed me down.

“I can assure you I triple-checked my brakes. I checked the rear, I checked the front ones again, because this track is a little bumpy and that’s what happened I’m sure, so I was able to not let it stay in my brain and keep thinking about it.”

Arana Sr. and his team will begin preparations for the 2017 season, but not before he’ll attend son Hector Arana Jr.’s wedding in December.

“I’m going to work, go to the wedding,” Arana Sr. said, “and then do some more work.”