Hector Arana and Hector Jr. Pomona II Saturday report

Father/son duo ready to ride roughshod through Pomona field

Hector Arana Sr.

Photo by: Ted Rossino

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 12) -- The father/son duo of Hector Arana Sr. and Jr. have thoroughly enjoyed their first season racing together in the NHRA's Pro Stock Motorcycle class. Now they want to close out the year with an all-Lucas Oil finale that would pit the two against one another for the last trophy up for grabs.

Through qualifying, their plan is working to perfection as they landed on opposite sides of the elimination ladder, setting up what could be their first had-to-head match-up in a final round. Hector Jr. qualified second with a 6.832 at 194.04 mph, while Hector Sr. locked up the No. 4 slot with a 6.871 at 194.91 mph.

"It would be cool to meet each other in the final at the last race of the year," said Hector Jr., who won the only other race against his dad earlier this year in the first round of the Houston event. "That would sure send us into the off-season with a lot of good feelings. But we've got a lot of work to do to get there. It won't be easy by any means because everyone in the field is capable of winning.

"I'm actually really bummed out this is the last race of the year. It means no more racing until next year, so that kind of stinks. I'm excited to find more horsepower, try out some new things and kick some butt next year.

"If I can't get the championship, I've got to get one more win. If it's against Dad, all the better. We can still set a national record (6.777 seconds) also. We've got the backup in the books. It could happen, for sure."

The frontrunner for the Auto Club Rookie of the Year award, Hector Jr. has won three races in five-final round showings, which have all occurred in the last seven events. Hector Sr., the 2009 series champion, hasn't reached a trophy round yet this year and is anxious to claim the last 60th anniversary Pewter Wally available.

"A win always is good," Hector Sr. said. "A win at the end of the year would be awesome, especially against Junior (laughs). For me, it would give me more incentive to keep working hard in the off-season and get ready for 2012. We've got some different plans, and if everything goes well, I'm going to be super busy. I'm going to need every motivation that I can get to keep going forward.

"Definitely, I have some confidence, The bike is doing well. We tried a couple different things at the starting line, and we saw a difference. It wasn't what we wanted, but we were able to go back and go in the other direction, and it responded. We should be good for tomorrow."