CHARLOTTE (March 24) -- Looking to pick up where he left off at the first race of the season, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Hector Arana Sr. is excited to return to zMax Dragway in Charlotte, one of his favorite tracks on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series circuit, for this weekend's NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
"I absolutely love going to Charlotte," Arana said. "I also definitely think going to Charlotte is going to be a lot easier now knowing what we had to get done before this weekend. We went to Gainesville (Fla.) kind of uncertain about what to expect but we learned a lot. During the week off in between this weekend and the last race we were able to go home and apply what we learned. We should be ready to go now."
After pulling out his Lucas Oil Buell body for eliminations in Gainesville, Arana plans to continue using last season's bike until the initial concerns of his new EBR body are squared away. But even with the change, he isn't concerned about his chances this weekend.
"Hector (Jr.) went back home to New York for work after Gainesville," Arana said. "Like in the off-season, we're going to take care of his bike and convert it back to the old body style like we did with my bike. It's our best option until the new body style is officially ready to go.
"Our goal is always to be on top and win races, so we're putting our team in a position to do that. We're heading into Charlotte and the rest of the season looking to do well and to start winning some races."
Qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1:15 and 4:15 p.m. ET, Friday and Saturday, and final eliminations will start at approximately 1:45 p.m., Sunday. Qualifying will be broadcasted on ESPN2 on tape-delay basis and elimination action will be live on ESPN starting at 2 p.m. ET.
