Arana made a solid pass in the third qualifying session, enough to put the talented rider in the field for the 36th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday. That was an effective bounce-back after failing to qualify at the race in Charlotte two weeks ago.
"It was definitely a weight off my shoulders," Arana said. "It wasn't just because it was a perfect run and we ran a .92. Friday night; the whole team worked really hard, and we went through the whole bike. We found a couple of little issues that were hurting us, so we fixed those. Now we're definitely on track."
Arana snared the No. 9 qualifying spot, easily his best of the three races this season, with a pass of 6.929 seconds at 192.25 mph.
"Are we 100 percent yet?" Arana asked. "No, but we're on track. We finally got the motor running strong. The motor has proven itself that it's running right there. It's still in the break-in stage, so we'll see what we can show these guys tomorrow."
The Arana Racing team rebuilt Arana's engine after Charlotte, and while breaking it in during Friday's qualifying sessions, Arana couldn't crack the top 12, but on Saturday he was much better, making the third-quickest run in Q3 and following up with a quick pass of 6.955 seconds at 192.88 mph in Q4.
As the No. 9 qualifier, he'll face off against the No. 8 rider on the ladder, which happens to be his father, Hector Sr., who recorded a top lap of 6.926 seconds at 193.02 mph in Q4 to bump Arana back one spot.
"I've got to race my dad tomorrow, but at least I'm racing tomorrow," Arana said. "It's going to guarantee one of us going to the second round, and we'll go from there."
FOX Sports 1 will air Saturday qualifying from 10 to 11 p.m. ET and Sunday's elimination action from 4:40 to 7:30 p.m. ET.
 |
| Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr. snared the No. 9 qualifying spot, easily his best of the three races this season, with a 6.929 at 192.25 mph in Atlanta. |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.