For the first time in over a year, dating back to the Norwalk Nationals last summer, Hector Arana Jr returned to the winner circle after winning over the last Vance and Hines rider, Richard Gadson, in the Pep Boys Nationals final round at Reading. The victory also marked Arana Jr's first of the season despite being close at Richmond and Sonoma over the summer months. 

Arana Jr. took out Jianna Evaristo, Angie Smith, and the 2023 Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion and No. 1 qualifier of this event, Gaige Herrera, to make it to the finals before winning against the rookie Gadson. Even though he did his part on the rider, Arana Jr. credited his team and his dad, Hector Arana Sr, for getting the victory. 

"Oh, definitely," Arana Jr said. "You know what? We have a great team, and we have a great motorcycle, and everybody works hard. My dad and GETTRX supporting us to be able to do that. We had a great motorcycle. A bunch of different things this year and leading up to the countdown. So now, it's time to turn it on. So we collected everything we got together, and here we are, we're in the finals, and here we are holding up a wall. We're more than in the finals, we're in the winners' circle. But wow, I couldn't imagine a better day."

Leading up to the Reading victory, the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods season has not been a kind one to Arana Jr. He started Gainesville with a first-round loss to John Hall, then more losses at Chicago and Bristol, including a couple of close ones at Richmond and Sonoma in the semis. He realizes it's been a struggle and the latest rule changes in the category to help even the field played a small part in the victory today, though recognizes his team still has some catching up to do to the Vance and Hines team. 

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Thankfully, NHRA did a great job of trying to level out the playfield. It's been tough. You know what? Vans and Hines, credit to them; they've been doing a great job, but they've been going fast. And for us, running the gen one motorcycle, it's been a struggle. We've made some really good runs and still would be a couple tenths behind.

"The recent rule changes are pretty good. They still seem to have a little bit of an edge. Fortunately for us, we were able to stay green, and here we are in the winner's circle. But you know what? We have some more power to make and to fight with them, but it is a little closer and it does give us a little bit of a better advantage to race on Sunday. Good thing that we made some good changes right before the countdown and it definitely helped even up the playing field between gen one, gen two. And those guys, they're great on the Suzuki, so we still got some catching up to do today." 

Even with all that on his mind, the victory was an extra special one because Maple Grove Raceway is a home track to Arana Jr, and he had a lot of family at the track this past weekend. 

"You know what? It's great. I got a lot of family support here. My wife, my kids, Sophia and Ella, everybody's here to enjoy the moment, really close friends, and it's great. There's nothing like winning a home event, and I really do ... When at Maple Grove, we do a great job here. It's a great facility. It's good for a tune-up, and we love coming here and turning on win lights. But wow, that's all I can say. I'm in shock coming into it. There's some really fast bikes going into it, but we had a great bike today." 

While Arana Jr. had Gadson in the finals, he knew he had to be on his game because Gadson was cutting great reaction times all day in each round. However, despite having a tough competitor in the other lane, the veteran rider had been in the class for a long time and had confidence in himself to get the job done.  

"Yeah, of course," Arana Jr said. "He's been doing a great job. He's a really good racer, and he races all the time. When we had the off-season, he was still racing. He got a lot of practice on the tree and a lot of consistency. So he's used to the pressure; he's used to really big money races.

"But you know what? So am I. I've been out here for a long time and know how to turn on the win lights. I dug deep today, and I collected myself. I looked back on the mistakes we made in Indy and came here with the mission to win."

Prior to facing Gadson in the finals, Arana Jr. eliminated the defending champion Herrera in the semis. Herrera had an easy pass to the semis because of a low bike count of 14 compared to the original 16-bike field. The Reading winner noted the low bike count and wished there were more riders every weekend to have better competition. 

"Yeah, you know what? "It's unfortunate that the class is a little weak right now, and we need more competitors to come in, and we need competitors to come in, strong competitors to have it where the guys on top aren't just getting some easy rounds to the end. Today, we had tough rounds. We had Jianna, who's been really fast all year, and we had Angie Smith, who's been really fast.

"And then, we both had Revzilla. We had Gaige, who saw we were running consistently, pressed the tree, and ended up on the wrong side. And man, have I been there. You live by the tree, and you die by the tree. And this weekend, we lived by the tree. It was a tough weekend, but yeah, you know what? You get lucky sometimes. But you know what? His luck ran out on those two runs, and it was my turn to get the lucky side of the horseshoe, and we kept going rounds."

Throughout the regular season, there have been battles on and off the track with the Matt Smith Racing and Vance and Hines teams. However, the now 19-time race winner has remained quiet and hopes this year will be his year to win a championship. 

"I do, and I sure hope so," he said. "You know what, they were all fighting in the front, but here I am in the background. And I said, "Listen, we do need to do something about the Suzuki so we can keep up, but you need to do something about the Gen-2. And here we are; they made a change, and we're consistent. So you know what? It has been a soap opera; we've been quiet, flying under the radar. And you know what? It's the countdown. Now it's the time to shine."