Langdon, Arana carry Lucas Oil flag into race day at Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 13) -- Lucas Oil teammates Shawn Langdon and Hector Arana both earned the No. 4 position in their respective fields and enter Sunday as favorites at the 41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. One of the youngest racers in the nitro ranks, the 27-year-old Langdon will begin his quest for the Gatornationals trophy against 81-year-old legend Chris "the Golden Greek" Karamesines, who has been drag racing since the 1950s. Arana already owns the current Pro Stock Motorcycle elapsed time record of 6.851 seconds, which he ran at Memphis Motorsports Park last October. He is one of a handful of riders capable of bettering that mark during Sunday's eliminations, a feat worth 20 bonus points. "The conditions are great and we have an opportunity to see a record," said Arana, who went 6.881 at 193.05 mph during qualifying. "The Suzukis are running good and also the Harleys, but I'm not going to worry about records or any of that. I'm going to stay within my program and work on getting this bike off the starting line. I'm here to win the race. That's the focus for me. "I'm struggling with the starting line. (NHRA) is using a different VHT (traction) spray and we're not figuring it out just yet. I still feel comfortable and I know I can run a 6.84. I just need to get the starting line figured out." Arana's first round opponent will be L.E. Tonglet, who qualified 13th with a best of 6.962 at 192.33 mph. |
