Hector Arana Sr. rides to quarterfinals; Hector Arana Jr. takes tough loss in round one in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 25) -- Hector Arana Sr., rider of the Lucas Oil Pro Stock Motorcycle, is fairly pleased with his weekend of racing in St. Louis even though he's a bit perplexed about the performance of his two-wheel racer on Sunday.

"It's throwing me for a curve," Arana said. "My tune-up is pretty good, the clutch combination is good, so I still can't put a finger on it why it's not running as fast as we did in Friday and Saturday qualifying. For some reason we are slowing down, and I don't quite know why yet."

Arana qualified in the top half of the 16-motorcycle field in the No. 7 position with a very good 6.880-second, 195.34-mph run. He defeated Karen Stoffer in the opening stanza of today's eliminations.

In the quarterfinals, Arana faced off against Angelle Sampey. Despite a terrific .007-second reaction time, he could not hold off the hard-charging Sampey, 6.916 at 193.96 to 6.882 at 195.08.

"We did OK this weekend, though," Arana said. "We'll be ready to go again in Reading (Pa)."

Hector Arana Jr., rider of the Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell, came very close to an opening-round upset over Andrew Hines, but an uncharacteristically subpar reaction time cost the younger Arana a chance at victory. Hines captured the holeshot win, 6.908, 194.52 to 6.911, 193.49.

"We ran the best we have all weekend, but unfortunately I started thinking too much on the starting line and I was a little too late leaving on Andrew," Arana Jr. said. "He was able to get the holeshot on me. I just have to go back and clear my mind, move past that, and get beyond that point and go from there."

Arana Jr. qualified in the No. 11 spot (6.910 seconds, 194.18 mph) for Sunday's eliminations.

"We are starting to really fine-tune the tune-ups," Arana Jr. concluded. "We are starting to sneak up on them and get a little bit better.

"Hopefully everything works out and we'll be ready for Reading."

Arana Jr. now sits in seventh place in championship points. Arana Sr. follows his son by only eight points in eighth.

The father and son dynamic duo will next compete in the third round of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs in Reading, the 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

Lucas Oil rider Hector Arana Sr. defeated Karen Stoffer in the opening stanza of eliminations en route to the quarterfinals at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Hector Arana Jr., rider of the Lucas Oil Racing TV Buell, came very close to an opening-round upset over Andrew Hines.

Founded in 1989 by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, Lucas Oil Products is the world leader of high-performance lubricants and problem-solving additives and produces and markets more than 270 unique formulations in more than 40 countries. Products include engine oils, greases, gear lubes, problem-solving additives, and car-care products. Please visit LucasOil.com for more information.

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