Hector has credited Larry Morgan's Pro Stock engine building for his horsepower numbers. Once Larry Morgan started building his heads with Pro Stock technology, the horsepower came.
Hector Arana is a first-time NHRA champ at 51 - ESPN
It's been a very good partnership, that's for sure.
I talked to Hector after one of the Chicago races a few years back, before the HD era. We were talking about the difficulty of running a single bike team and trying to compete with Bryce and Hines. He told me back then that his biggest hurdle to overcome was getting his head ideas into working parts.
He went on to say that he had been let down many times when he'd go to someone with the necessary skills to build the parts, but if it proved successful his idea got spread all over the pits and the edge he should have had went to almost every team. Therefore, not an edge.
On the other hand, the ones he tried who kept their mouth shut tended not to be capable of doing the parts exactly as he wanted. As far as I know, no PS engine builders have ever dabbled into the Suzuki head, so he was dealing strictly with the motorcycle performance industry back then.
I could see the frustration on his face. At that time he was a regular but not exactly a powerhouse, so it somewhat surprised me he was so deeply into R&D and the "what if" thought process. I gained a lot of respect for him during that conversation.