Lucas Oil Racing TV pro Hector Arana Jr. speeds to No. 3 qualifying spot

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 11) -- Hector Arana Jr. has his fast Lucas Oil Racing TV Pro Stock Motorcycle back, and he's ready to contend for an NHRA Summernationals victory on Sunday at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Arana, an 11-time winner who has never finished outside the top five in points in his five seasons, had gotten off to a slow start to the 2016 season, but consistent work from his Arana Racing team has paid dividends with a No. 3 qualifying spot.

"Too bad we couldn't get the No. 1 spot," Arana said. "My dad, Louie (Lubliner), Dave (Elk), Andrew (Schulz), all the guys have been working really hard at the shop -- countless, countless hours. We finally got the bike back where it used to be."

Arana's top qualifying pass was 6.799 seconds at 195.65 mph for his best starting spot of the season. The elapsed time was also his best of 2016 and his best since Charlotte last March, when he set the national speed record (6.795 at 199.88 mph).

Solidly in the Englishtown field, Arana then focused on his bike's race-day tune-up.

"We're tuning on it, tweaking on it here and there," Arana said. "Today we did some testing to see if we could improve and try to figure something out for tomorrow. We'll go from there, but we're definitely headed in the right direction.

"We have a consistent motor now, and it's up to us to do our best."

Arana lines up against No. 14 qualifier Jim Underdahl in the first round Sunday. Underdahl's best pass was 6.950 seconds at 193.96 mph. Arana would love to go several rounds Sunday to try to dig his way out of the No. 15 spot in the points standings.

"Tomorrow is very important," Arana said. "I'm just going to do my thing: One round at a time. I'm not going to look too far ahead. I'm going to focus on the round that I'm racing and go from there."

Arana, too, has been boosted by younger brother Adam, the U.S. Coast Guard member who lives in New York. Adam came to the race to support his family this weekend.

"It's nice having Adam here," Arana said. "He lends an extra hand. It's crazy that even though he's been gone more than a full season, when he comes back to the races it's like he was never gone. It's good."

FOX Sports 1 will carry Friday and Saturday's qualifying action from 9 to 11 a.m., Sunday. Eliminations will air from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Sunday.

Lucas Oil Racing TV rider Hector Arana Jr. had gotten off to a slow start this season, but consistent
work has paid dividends with a No. 3 qualifying spot at the NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown.

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