Junior prevails in first father/son Pro Stock Bike race in history
HOUSTON (May 1) – After getting his first taste of NHRA Full Throttle
Series Pro Stock Motorcycle racing at the 24th annual O’Reilly Auto
Parts Spring Nationals, rookie rider Hector Arana Jr. is ready for
more.
“It was great,” the 22-year-old Arana said. “I had a blast. It was
good to finally race.”
Hector Jr. beat his father Hector Arana Sr. in a historic first-round
race of identical Lucas Oil Buells before getting edged out by Michael
Phillips in the second round. Hector Jr.’s race against his father was
the first of it’s kind in class history.
“I’m sorry I beat my dad,” Hector Jr. said. “But I guess the best man
won this time. In the second round, I gave it everything I had. We
just didn’t have the performance.”
Hector Jr. got a slight advantage off the starting line against his
father, and never looked back as his championship-winning father ran
out of power. Hector Jr. crossed the line in 6.999 seconds at 189.73
mph, while the elder Arana coasted across in 9.553 seconds at 102.20
mph.
After the race, Arana Sr. was equal parts proud papa and savvy team owner.
“I devoted a lot of my time this weekend to making sure he was safe,”
Arana Sr. said. “He did an excellent job. He’s picked up and getting
more comfortable. I’m very proud of him.
“Now I see with my own eyes that he can handle the bike and knows what
to do. This will allow me to start focusing on my own program. I need
him to let go and let him make more of his own calls on his bike. That
will let my focus shift to what I need to do to pick up my
performance.”
In the second round against Phillips, Hector Jr. had a nearly
identical reaction time as his opponent, but Phillips had a little
more horsepower at every incremental timer after that. Phillips
crossed the line with a 6.898 at 196.70 mph to Hector Jr.’s 7.003 at
192.55 mph.
“I want to thank Forrest and Charlotte Lucas for giving me this
opportunity to race,” Hector Jr. said. “I also can’t say enough about
my dad. I’m addicted now, and I can’t wait to get back on the track.”
Larry Morgan got the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang Pro Stock car into the
second round for the first time this year and broke a personal 23-race
losing streak to Greg Anderson when Anderson fouled out at the
starting line in the first round.
“We would have liked to settle the race at the finish line, but a win
is a win,” Morgan said. “We’re excited about the direction this car is
going and we can’t wait for the success we have in store for Lucas
Oil, Ford and Summit Racing in the future.”
After Anderson left -.005 seconds too early, Morgan ran a 6.672 second
pass at 208.17 mph.
Morgan drew Mike Edwards in the second round. Edwards got the jump off
the start and just pulled away as he ran a 6.620 at 209.49 mph to
Morgan’s 7.614 at 134.56 mph.
Up next for the NHRA Full Throttle Series is the Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals May 13-15 from Atlanta Dragway.
