Arana races to the top of the motorcycle ladder
Craig Wack, Senior Editor
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Hector Arana wasn’t able to get his Lucas Oil Buell dialed in at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals until Saturday morning, but once he did, no one in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class could best him.
Arana was the only racer to knock a Friday night provisional No. 1 qualifier off their perch after he ran a 6.876 second pass at 192.69 mph in the cool morning air to set an Infineon Raceway track record.
“I was struggling leaving the starting line Friday,” Arana said. “I knew if I could leave well I could qualify better than where I was, the No. 6 spot. The bike left good and I knew I was on a good run.
“It was so smooth, at the top end it didn’t feel like it was a 6.87,” Arana said. “It was like the run was in slow-motion.”
The other No. 1 qualifiers from Friday – Jack Beckman in Funny Car, Larry Dixon in Top Fuel and Allen Johnson in Pro Stock – held on.
It was Arana’s first No. 1 qualifier in Sonoma and he squares off against Mike Berry in Sunday’s first round of eliminations. Berry ran a 7.079 second lap at 180.52 mph to qualify 16th.
“We thought about our race tomorrow and tried something to see how the bike was going to respond,” Arana said.
Beckman was pretty solidly locked into his No. 1 spot after his Friday night pass of 4.063 seconds at 311.56 mph in the Valvoline Dodge Charger Funny Car, but he wasn’t going to tempt fate unnecessarily.
“I was signing a visor this morning for a cancer fundraiser and I started to write ‘No. 1 qualifier,’” Beckman said. “I thought, ‘I can’t do that.’ As you saw the race track temperature go up despite the rest of the weather being beautiful here, it was going to be tough to beat that 4.06.
“I told the guy to bring the hat back to me at the end of the day today and hopefully I could add No. 1 to it.”
Beckman faces Jeff Diehl’s Rimz One Chevy in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations. Diehl’s best lap was a 4.352 at 282.84 mph.
Dixon’s Al-Anabi Racing was solid in all conditions as well. Top Fuel didn’t get its moonshot session in the dark and cool on Friday night, so his 3.839 at 317.79 is a sign he’ll be a tough beat on Sunday.
“Today was a good day,” Dixon said. “We’re able to get two runs down the track in the sun, the same conditions we’ll be racing in on Sunday.
“We were fourth quickest in the first session today and second in the second session. There were some things the team was working on -- some good, some bad – hopefully it will all pay off tomorrow.”
Dixon faces Steve Chrisman in the first round. Chrisman had a best lap of 4.078 at 292.96 mph.
Johnson topped another tight Pro Stock session by running a best time of 6.545 at 210.77 mph in the Mopar Dodge Avenger. He faces Vinnie Deceglie, who ran a 6.616 at 209.59 mph, in the opening round.
“We didn’t do a real good job on that last run tuning for tomorrow,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a good car and a veteran team. Conditions are going to be a little warmer tomorrow than they were today.
“The last run we were trying to see how far we could push the envelope tomorrow and pushed it a little too far.”
Eliminations for the Fram-Autolite Nationals begin at 11 a.m. PDT.
SUNDAY’S PAIRINGS
Top Fuel -- 1. Larry Dixon, 3.839 seconds, 317.79 mph vs. 16. Steven Chrisman, 4.078, 292.96; 2. Antron Brown, 3.863, 315.86 vs. 15. Terry McMillen, 4.066, 282.01; 3. Rod Fuller, 3.873, 310.13 vs. 14. Mike Strasburg, 4.042, 300.33; 4. Cory McClenathan, 3.896, 309.06 vs. 13. Bob Vandergriff, 4.015, 300.33; 5. Doug Kalitta, 3.899, 309.49 vs. 12. Shawn Langdon, 3.987, 288.64; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 3.912, 307.23 vs. 11. Troy Buff, 3.981, 259.81; 7. Tony Schumacher, 3.926, 305.98 vs. 10. Morgan Lucas, 3.966, 294.88; 8. Steve Torrence, 3.943, 305.08 vs. 9. David Grubnic, 3.944, 299.86. Did Not Qualify: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.129, 278.40; 18. Steve Faria, 8.482, 86.53.
Funny Car -- 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.063, 311.56 vs. 16. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.352, 282.84; 2. Gary Densham, Chevy Impala, 4.103, 300.26 vs. 15. Melanie Troxel, Charger, 4.304, 292.52; 3. John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.104, 307.30 vs. 14. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.273, 289.51; 4. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.112, 304.19 vs. 13. Jeff Arend, Solara, 4.242, 287.96; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.130, 304.39 vs. 12. Paul Lee, Chevy Impala SS, 4.207, 297.09; 6. Del Worsham, Toyota Camry, 4.152, 301.27 vs. 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.202, 286.56; 7. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.170, 297.55 vs. 10. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.177, 296.70; 8. Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.172, 301.87 vs. 9. Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.172, 297.68. Did Not Qualify: 17. Grant Downing, 4.352, 274.22; 18. Brian Thiel, 4.410, 278.69.
Pro Stock -- 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.545, 210.77 vs. 16. Vinnie Deceglie, Avenger, 6.616, 209.59; 2. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.549, 210.64 vs. 15. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.613, 208.81; 3. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.552, 210.47 vs. 14. Larry Morgan, Ford Mustang, 6.607, 208.91; 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.565, 209.14 vs. 13. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.599, 209.07; 5. Jason Line, GXP, 6.569, 210.14 vs. 12. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.598, 209.39; 6. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.570, 209.72 vs. 11. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.598, 209.65; 7. Johnny Gray, GXP, 6.575, 209.79 vs. 10. Shane Gray, GXP, 6.597, 209.39; 8. Bob Yonke, GXP, 6.584, 208.68 vs. 9. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.595, 209.20. Did Not Qualify: 17. Erica Enders, 6.649, 207.72; 18. Gordie Rivera, 6.715, 206.26; 19. Jim Cunningham, 6.736, 205.29.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.876, 192.69 vs. 16. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.079, 184.07; 2. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.904, 194.30 vs. 15. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 7.049, 191.10; 3. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.912, 191.46 vs. 14. Angie Smith, Buell, 7.001, 189.66; 4. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 6.919, 192.58 vs. 13. David Hope, Buell, 6.968, 188.60; 5. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.919, 191.84 vs. 12. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.967, 188.20; 6. Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 6.926, 195.45 vs. 11. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.966, 191.43; 7. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.928, 192.36 vs. 10. Larry Cook, Buell, 6.957, 188.75; 8. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.929, 191.16 vs. 9. Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.949, 191.78. Did Not Qualify: 17. Redell Harris, 7.174, 259.21; 18. GT Tonglet, 7.190, 184.72; 19. Chris MacLaurin, 7.233, 182.03; 20. James Surber, 7.323, 181.35; 21. Katie Sullivan, 7.684, 180.07; 22. Scotty Pollacheck, 9.635, 88.60.
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