NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Hector Arana Sr.’s long pursuit of a Pro Stock Motorcycle championship finally reached the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with a thrilling, narrow points conquest at the end of the 2009 season.

Arana entered the season finale 58 points ahead of Eddie Krawiec but was able to add an additional four points in qualifying to boost the lead to 62 points, in essence, meaning that he’d added another full round to his total and needed only to win two rounds to seal his Pro Stock Motorcycle championship.

As the low qualifier, most expected him to do that easily, but a stunning red-light in round two prolonged the drama and extended, by the thinnest of strands, Krawiec’s hopes. 

Krawiec needed to win the race and set a national record but was unable to make even a backup run in the semifinals, where teammate Andrew Hines went red against him. Krawiec needed at least a 6.918 for a backup toward the improbable shot at breaking Arana’s 6.851 national record, but he ran his third straight 6.95 of eliminations, locking in Arana.

“It feels good,” said Arana. “It hasn’t really hit me yet. I do feel better, lighter now that the stress is over and the worries. A lot of things happened this year that I accomplished: I won five races, I won three in a row, I set the national record, and I won the championship. This is awesome.”

Ninety minutes later, Krawiec defeated red-lighting Doug Horne in the final with low e.t. of the meet, 6.905, a run he could have used a round earlier as a backup, and fell just two points shy of the champion’s total.

Without the national record he set earlier in the season in Memphis, Tenn., the qualifying bonus points he earned in Pomona, or the holeshot win over Krawiec in Las Vegas the race before, Arana would have finished second.

Final points
1. Hector Arana: 2,590
2. Eddie Krawiec: 2,588
3. Andrew Hines: 2,446