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Thursday, August 13, 2009
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Arana hopes BIR has answer to struggles
Sports Writer Hector Arana was 1-for-1 and standing at the top of the Pro Stock Motorcycle season points standings.
Then came week two.
After opening the Pro Stock Motorcycle season with a win at the ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., over Matt Smith, Arana has been stuck around the sixth spot in the points standings.
The problem for the Lucas Oil Products Buell team hasn't been qualifying. In that category Arana hasn't finished worse than sixth all season with two No. 1's to his credit.
"The qualifying so far we're doing well," said Arana. "When it comes to the elimination rounds is where we are struggling a little bit. We think we have figured out the red-lighting. If we have, we should be going good."
He made the quarterfinals at the Spring Nationals in Houston, the Southern Nationals in Atlanta and the Western Nationals in Madison, Ill.
Arana qualified No. 2 in Chicago, but didn't get out of the first round. Arana qualified No. 1 at Englishtown, N.J., but again fell in the first round. At Norwalk, Ohio, he qualified second, but lost in the first round.
Finally, in Denver with a No. 1 qualifying under his belt, Arana advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual winner and season points leader Eddie Krawiec.
"I think the season is going well, but not as good as I wanted it to be," said Arana. "We are running well and getting a handle on the clutch and hopefully a handle on the red lights. If we can take care of the red light we should be advancing to more rounds and climbing up in points.
Hector Arana
Category: Pro Stock Motorcycle
Hometown: Miami
Age: 50
Sponsor/Bike: Lucas Oil Products Buell
Crew Chief: Hector Arana
Career wins: 2
2009 wins/final rounds: 1/1
Current points standing: Sixth
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"We struggled a little bit. We were trying too hard to win more races. After we won that first one, we started paying too much attention to the points race and trying to stay up there. We just lost focus. Now we're concentrating and working on making our team better and making a run for the championship."
Arana is excited about this weekend's Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Last season, he qualified fourth, but fell to David Hope in the first round.
In 2007, he qualified ninth but advanced to the semifinals where he lost to Krawiec.
"We've qualified well there and had our ups and downs," said Arana. "I think it's going to be good for us this year. We're looking forward to it. We're working on our second motor and hopefully that will make us a little better than what we've got."
Arana placed 11th in last year's points race and came within a round win of qualifying for the NHRA playoffs. He finished 1,728 points behind Krawiec. In 2007, he placed 13th and the year before that 22nd. The 50-year-old veteran is hoping to make even more progress this season.
"We're not looking at the points right now," he said. "Every time we do we make mistakes. We're not going to think about that. We're going to worry about winning runs. If we do that, the points will take care of themselves."
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.
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