After Friday night’s racing at the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle field said the NHRA national record was there for the taking.

Points leader Hector Arana was not shy about helping himself when Saturday’s racing started at Memphis Motorsports Park.

During Saturday morning’s qualifying session, Arana ran the quickest time on a motorcycle in NHRA history with a 6.851 second elapsed time run at 195.03 mph.

“We hurt the motor a little (on Friday), so we took everything apart and called (Pro Stock driver) Larry Morgan,” Arana said. “He looked at it and said, ‘Don’t worry Hector, we’ll take care of it.’ Sure enough he came back and said it’s good as new.”

According to NHRA rules, Arana must make a run within one percent of the record (approximately a 6.919 seconds or quicker) on his Lucas Oil Buell to certify the mark and get 20 bonus points in the championship standings.

He took a big swing at certifying the record during his final qualifying run of the day, but he spun the rear tire at the starting line that slowed him just enough to run a 6.928-second pass.

“We really wanted to set the record, but we got too aggressive and didn’t get off the starting line,” Arana said. “(Today) we have another chance to break the record, but we’ve got to start focusing on winning races. I think we’ll be able to run consistent 6.80s and back the record up.”

Arana has won three straight races, and Morgan said he has no doubts Arana, a native of Puerto Rico who lives outside Indianapolis, will back the record up.

“We’re so happy for him,” said Morgan, who is also sponsored by Lucas Oil. “This guy has been racing forever, and I’m elated for him. That guy has done a great job.

“He likes to give me credit, but he doesn’t take enough of the credit for himself. He will back the record up, I am sure about it. I’m just glad we’re able to help him, he’s such a great guy.”

Arana, the No. 1 qualifier, will start today’s eliminations against Joe Desantis.

The other classes weren’t nearly as dramatic. Friday night’s top qualifiers — Larry Dixon in Top Fuel, Robert Hight in Funny Car and Mike Edwards in Pro Stock — all carried over.

Dixon, who picked up 12 bonus qualifying points, paced the field with a 3.810 at 318.99 mph and will face Memphis-area resident Clay Millican in the first round.

“That was nice, the bonus points we picked up this weekend, we need them,” Dixon said. “We’re scrapping for every point we can get. Al-Anabi team did a great job this weekend, hopefully we’ll make four good runs (today) (and win).”

Edwards picked up eight bonus points and widened his lead with a best pass of 6.552 at 210.18 mph.

“Any time you get some points, that’s crucial. I feel like we let some slip away that last run. Overall, we’re still No. 1 qualifier, and hopefully we’ve got all the bad things out of the way (Saturday) on that last run.”

Hight’s best pass in the Auto Club Ford Mustang was 4.074 at 310.74 mph.

“I like what I see on the ladder, there are a lot a matchups of top 10 teams,” Hight said. “Which means some of those guys will be out of there right off the bat.”

Hight faces Justin Schriefer in the first round of eliminations that begins today at 11 a.m.

O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals