Father beats son: Red-light decides battle of the Aranas in Norwalk

NORWALK, Ohio (June 26) -- The battle between father and son was over before it ever started.

Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr. left .005-second too soon, drawing a red-light and handing the first-round victory in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park to his dad, Lucas Oil racer Hector Arana Sr.

Arana Sr. didn't see the win light come on in his lane, as his bike didn't exactly make a good pass, so he was surprised when his son and NHRA officials signaled him to go to the winner's lane at the top end of the racetrack.

"You know, it's not easy racing your own son," Arana Sr. said. "I was more focused on him, making sure he was ready, staging and all that. There's no head games or nothing, and we are playing fair, but I lost my concentration and that's not good. So I had a lousy run and he's flying, and I didn't look at the scoreboard, so I didn't know I won.

"And then at the end, he was pointing at me to go to the winner's side and I'm like, 'Me?' They said, 'Well, Hector red-lighted.' So it was bittersweet."

Arana Sr.'s winning pass was 7.031 seconds at 194.07 mph while his son made a run of 6.931 seconds at 195.59 mph.

In the second round against eventual race winner Eddie Krawiec, Arana Sr. made a much better pass, 6.951 seconds at 193.35 mph, but the No. 1 qualifier sped to the semifinals with a 6.909 at 194.35 mph as the temperatures rose in northern Ohio.

"Second round I was much better," Arana Sr. said. "We just have to keep digging in there and we have to found some power. We are working on it, and we've got some things working, and hopefully soon we can find some power -- sooner rather than later."

Arana Jr. had been solid on the Tree all during qualifying, but the rush of race day may have caught him.

"All weekend I had good lights," Arana Jr. said. "I was really focused and on point. I had a .002 in the first round (of qualifying) and a .006 the next time and then I red-lit, so I was right there on the verge. When I went into it today with the extra adrenaline of race day, it was just enough to put me over the line and I was .005 red.

"But at the same time, I would rather be right there on point than have a .100 light and get outrun that way."

Arana Jr., though, was pleased with the performance of his Buell. The next race on the schedule is in Chicago, where he's won the last two years.

"We found some power in the tune-up, and we were able to pick up and run our best back-half of the weekend," Arana Jr. said. "We ran 195, one of the best mph of the weekend. We are really happy about that because it was one of the top speeds of the meet with some of the worst weather."

Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr. (below) left .005-second too soon, drawing a red-light and handing the first-round victory in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park to his dad, Lucas Oil racer Hector Arana Sr. (above).

 

 

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