Hector Arana Sr., the 2009 NHRA world champion, missed the last NHRA event in Chicago (July 6-9), but was back with his team at the Mile-High Nationals.

Arana Sr. is recovering from left shoulder surgery he had in June. Arana Sr. injured the shoulder while fixing a flat on his team’s hauler as the team was headed back from Englishtown, N.J., after the race June 11.

“I still have five weeks left (in a sling) and then I had to rehab,” Arana Sr. said. “It’s really frustrating because you always want to do something and I can’t just walk away. That’s why I skipped Chicago. I wanted to stay home and not do anything so I can heal faster and get back out here.”

Hector Arana Jr. had a runner-up finish at Chicago, which wasn’t lost on the elder Arana.

“They went to the finals without me, so they are doing great, they don’t need me anymore,” Arana Sr., said chuckling. “It’s a been a while that he (Hector Jr.) has been calling his own shots. I knew they were in good hands and that’s the reason I could stay home and not have to worry about anything. At the Mile-High Nationals, we have to change everything from gear ratios to transfer ratios and different things on the engine, trying to make up for the lack of oxygen that we have here. It’s a challenge and an expensive one to because you only run here once a year. Whatever we use here we can’t use anywhere else.”

“I was the one always trying something different so I could keep him consistent in the points. If something worked on my bike, we would transfer to his bike and if it didn’t work, he didn’t lose ground. Hopefully I can be back before the season is over.”

Adam Arana, Hector Jr.’s younger brother, who raced Pro Stock Motorcycle in 2013-14 and then joined the United States Coast Guard, isn’t showing any immediate to desire to race again.

“I talk to Adam and he’s not counting how many days he has left (in the Coast Guard),” Arana Sr. said. “He might stay there longer. Right now, Adam is stationed in Kings Point, N.Y., which is great because he lives like 25 minutes from Hector (Jr.). They see each other three times a week.”