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Monday, August 17, 2009
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For Arana, near-perfect weekend ends with victory
By Joe Lindholm Sports Writer On Saturday, Hector Arana did a little rain dance after his third qualifying race.
It worked out a little too well as the rain washed away Saturday afternoon qualifying.
On Sunday, he showed up not knowing what to expect.
Everything went smoothly as he closed out a near-perfect weekend with a victory in the Pro Stock Motorcycle series in the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
With the victory, Arana moved up from sixth to fourth place in the points race for the Countdown to the Championship.
"The win felt awesome," he said. "It couldn't be any better to win at the home-sponsor track for Lucas Oil or having Forest and Charlotte (Lucas) and my family and friends. The fans treat us very well here. From the moment I got here I felt relaxed with no pressure.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
Highlight: Hector Arana takes his second victory of the season, clinches spot in Countdown to a Championship.
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"I was thinking about having a great time and enjoying the weekend and going to the zoo (campground). They treat us like royalty."
Arana defeated Junior Pippin, one of the great stories of elimination Sunday. Pippin earned his first elimination-round win earlier in the day, and moved to the finals before committing a red-light foul on the last run.
Arana and Pippin are friends and Arana was happy to see him in the finals.
"When I saw he won his first run, I was really happy for him,"Arana said. "We have become friends and always talk.. I have seen how much work and effort he has put into his bike.
Arana was solid through all of his runs and finished the weekend with a time of 6.98 seconds at 190 mph. The elapsed time was his slowest of the day.
Pippin has been driving Pro Stock Motorcycles since 2007. In 2008, he competed in 17 races and qualified for a career-high 14. He also closed out the year by being nominated for the Auto Club Road to the Future Award.
Coming into the Lucas Oil Nationals he did not have a elimination-round victory. That changed with his first-round win from the No. 14 spot as he upset Andrew Hines, who qualified No. 3. Pippin ran at 187.03 mph, and an elapsed time of 7.056. Hines is currently second in the points chase.
Pippin kept the momentum going in round two. His motorcycle stayed consistent with an ET of 7.071, but he was also aided by his opponent Shawn Gann fouling with a red light.
Pippin continued his amazing day with a victory in the semifinals over Craig Treble. Pippin had the advantage on reaction time and kept the momentum going as he bested Treble in ET (7.044 to 7.142), running at 188.78 mph.
In the other semifinal, Arana was dominating with a victory over Eddie Krawiec. Arana had a reaction time of .033, and an elapsed time of 6.963 at 191.92 mph. Krawiec had a reaction time of .050, an elapsed time of 7.107 and a speed of 184.50.
Karen Stoffer wanted to race for a while on Sunday but it wasn't to be. Stoffer, on the bubble in 10th place in the Countdown, qualified in the No. 2 spot just behind Arana. Her day ended in the first round as she fouled out despite having the best top speed of the round up of 188.67 mph to that point.
Arana got through his first-round matchup with a victory over Wesley Wells with a speed of 191.32 mph. Krawiec is in first place in the points race and moved on with a first-round victory over Matt Smith with a top speed of 189.28 mph.
Pippin kept the momentum going in round two. His motorcycle stayed consistent with an ET of 7.071, but he was also aided by his opponent Shawn Gann fouling out.
Krawiec and Arana advanced to the semifinals. Treble also advanced to face Pippin when Mike Berry fouled out.
With his second win of the season under his belt, Arana and the rest of the drivers now head to Reading, Pa., for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.
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