CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 24) -- Defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Hector Arana didn't get much time to work on his Lucas Oil Buell during the offseason, but he still made it to the semifinal round at the season-opening event in Gainesville, Fla.
In the couple of weeks since the Gatornationals, Arana has been able to give the bike's engine a good teardown ahead of this weekend's inaugural NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway.
"We found out we had too much leak down in one of the cylinders," Arana said. "So we've got the cylinder honed and are putting it all back together. Now we'll see what she can do. I think it will be much better."
This weekend's race will follow an unusual format with all qualifying and elimination races utilizing all four of the Charlotte facility's lanes. Arana said he's excited to be involved in such a historic event, but he's also going to come to the track armed with plenty of questions.
"I'm looking forward to this new deal because it's going to be cool," Arana said. "The only concern I'm going to have is are we going to know when everybody else is prestaged?"
Arana said with reaction time being at such a premium in the bike class, the staging of the four motorcycles is going to be crucial.
"I don't want to stage, be on the rev limiter and ready to go, and then the other lanes aren't even ready," Arana said. "That's my main concern.
"The first thing I'm going to do is talk to (chief) starter Rick Stewart and ask him and everyone else how this is supposed to work. I'll also be able to watch others cars run before me so I won't be too surprised."
When not running four-wide, Arana expects plenty of Charlotte fans to make their way to his red, white, and blue Lucas Oil pit.
"It's one of the places I have my biggest fan base," Arana said. "The crowd is excellent and people from everywhere show up for this race. I know there's going to be a lot of people looking for me and some autographs and pictures."
Pro racing gets under way at Charlotte on March 26 at 1 p.m. EDT with eliminations at noon on March 28.
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