Hector Arana Jr. made history Friday with the first 200-mph run in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle history, but it was Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson teammates who ruled qualifying with quick times in the 49th annual Amalie NHRA Gatornationals.

Six-time NHRA world champion Andrew Hines edged his Screamin’ Eagle teammate Eddie Krawiec, the reigning world champ, for the No. 1 qualifying position heading to Sunday’s eliminations in the first of 16 events in the NHRA Mello Yello category’s season.

Arana Jr. cracked the elusive barrier at Gainesville Raceway in northern Florida in the second qualifying session with a run at 200.23 mph to earn the DENSO Spark Plugs 200 MPH Club’s $10,000 bonus prize. He improved his world record to 201.01 in Saturday’s last session.

But when it came down to quickness, Hines and Krawiec dominated by earning 15 of a possible 24 bonus points in qualifying; nine for Hines, 6 for Krawiec.

Hines' best run was in the third session with a time of 6.773 seconds at 198.64 Saturday to pass the 6.846 by Krawiec, who qualified second.

Hines’ time was nothing he expected after being undaunted by an oil pressure problem before his burnout.

“That just comes from years and years of riding these things,” Hines said. “I was grateful at that point to be able to make the run. I didn’t expect to go to No. 1. I just wanted to get another launch to get the clutch ready for the next run.

“Last year we figured out how to get our (Harley-Davidson) Street Rods off the starting line a lot more consistently. Coming here it was just a progression of taking our notes from last year and just making sure we are making the proper calls at the right time.”  

A year ago, Krawiec beat Hines for the Gatornationals title when he also qualified second to Hines.

"It's good to be back out racing," said Krawiec, who owns two titles at Gainesville. "We pretty much started right where we left off and that's our motive heading into these next couple races. We really didn't change anything from Pomona (last November) on our motorcycles so we could come here to be fresh and ready."

The first round of eliminations begins at 11 a.m. (EDT) Sunday.