Being atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder fits Hector Arana just fine.

The reigning world champion took the No. 1 qualifying spot with his 6.856-second pass during Friday’s qualifying session at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

It’s not as if that run was a fluke either as Arana had the top qualifying pass Saturday at 6.858 seconds at Houston Raceway Park.

“We’re really working on it hard and paying attention, and I have to give credit to my crew guys,” Arana said. “They’re the ones who go and check the staging lanes hours before we get to run so we can make the proper call on the tuneup. They’re doing an awesome job.”

Being atop the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder fits Hector Arana just fine.

The reigning world champion took the No. 1 qualifying spot with his 6.856-second pass during Friday’s qualifying session at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

It’s not as if that run was a fluke either as Arana had the top qualifying pass Saturday at 6.858 seconds at Houston Raceway Park.

“We’re really working on it hard and paying attention, and I have to give credit to my crew guys,” Arana said. “They’re the ones who go and check the staging lanes hours before we get to run so we can make the proper call on the tuneup. They’re doing an awesome job.”

This is  Arana’s 10th career pole, and ninth since the start of the 2009 season. Arana faces Steve Johnson in the first-round of eliminations, which begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Arana’s final run of 6.858 run was quite impressive because of the rainy, humid, weather conditions Saturday.

“On one hand the weather didn’t really bother me because if something would have happened, I still would have stayed on the pole,” said Arana, who won a career-high five races last year en route to his inaugural world title. “It turned out to be a great day and I had some spectacular runs and I’m really pleased.”

Arana, who leads the season points chase by 15 points over both Ed Krawiec and Matt Smith, knows staying ahead of the pack is a job in itself.

“As you do well and make more runs, I seem to be more busy,” said the 52-year-old Arana, who resides in Milltown, Ind. “I have less time to sign a lot of autographs. I told the fans to please not to get mad because I’m going to sign as many as I can and I need to get back to my motorcycle, and I know they (the fans) want me to qualify on the pole and do well and win. They’ve been very supportive and I can’t ask for more.”

Although Arana’s qualifying runs Friday and Saturday appeared effortless, they weren’t.

“I will not say they were a breeze,” said Arana, who is searching for his first win this season. “Larry Morgan touched up the cylinders and we had new rings in there. All I can is that I’ve been blessed and we have not got lost yet.”

With the changes in weather from Friday to Saturday, Arana did pour over past data to try and find the right combination for the track.

“Yeah I did and I want to know why I slowed down with this last run,” Arana said with a laugh. “I’m really pleased and I hoping for the best tomorrow. I carry two years (of tuning logs) with me and I also look back to what I’ve done and I pay close attention to the weather. All that data I written down does come in handy, and I will be ready for tomorrow.”