Lucas Oil pro Hector Arana Sr. races past son in Atlanta's first round

ATLANTA (May 15) -- Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. earned a round-win at the 36th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway, though it was both eventful and bittersweet.

"Well, the better man won this one," Arana said with a smile.

Arana had to race his son, Hector Jr., and neither racer reached the finish line at top speed. Both were sharp on the Christmas Tree -- Arana had a .016-second reaction time to his son's .019 -- and both were making good runs.

"We were neck to neck there," Arana said. "I stayed focused, but I also could see him right there in my periphery. He was right there, but then suddenly I saw him disappear. I took the lead, and I was wondering what happened to him. Then my bike made a hard move to the right, so I pulled in the clutch."

Arana then figured his son would speed past.

"Uh, oh," Arana thought. "He's going to come right by me."

But Hector Jr. had problems shifting and couldn't catch his dad.

"My concern was what happened to him," Arana said. "I kept looking back when I was in the shutdown area, and I couldn't see him. For one second, I was concerned because I didn't see him, but he was right behind me. I saw him and I was relieved."

Arana's winning pass was 6.934 seconds at 174.75 mph while Hector Jr. made a run of 7.227 seconds at 148.55 mph.

"It was going to be a helluva run," Arana said. "But that's OK."

Arana faced Angelle Sampey in the second round and left first on the No. 1 qualifier, but Sampey came around with a pass of 6.870 seconds at 195.39 mph. Arana's run was a 6.941 at 191.76 mph.

"We went the wrong way with the tune-up," Arana said. "Sometimes those things happen, but as long as we learn from it and do something about it, it's OK. We don't need to keep repeating those things. We're going to keep getting stronger and stronger."

Today's race will air from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET. on FOX Sports 1.

 Lucas Oil Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. reached the second round at the 36th annual
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway.

Please visit www.LucasOil.com and  www.GeigerMediaGlobal.com for more information.