This weekend's 33rd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway kicks off two races in a row for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, making preparation critical for the Lucas Oil Buell team of rider Hector Arana Jr.

The team won't return to its home base of Milltown, Ind., until after the Sonoma event, meaning the team needed to pack up for two races before it left its Indiana home base. With the extra work, the week following the most recent Full Throttle Drag Racing Series race in Norwalk, Ohio, was a busy one.

"We got home from Norwalk and went through all our motors, inspecting them to make sure nothing was wrong," Arana Jr. said. "We pulled out the motors we were running and put some other ones in that have more runs on them for Denver. That way, we don't ruin our parts because Denver is really hard on parts and we don't like to run the motors after Denver."

Instead of "Grace" - the engine named after his mother Grace Arana - Arana Jr. will have "The Replacement" powering his Lucas Oil Buell in Denver.

"We had a motor that had blown up, and they just replaced it, so now we call this one, 'The Replacement,'" Arana Jr. said simply.

Still, Arana Jr. remains confident of performing well in Denver.

"We should be able to be right up there," Arana Jr. said. "Maybe not as quick as we usually are, but we definitely have the power to go win the race. We've just got to strategize, play it smart and run our best. We'll try to be flawless, and hopefully everything works out and we can leave with a Wally - finally."

Arana Jr. won three races in 2011 en route to winning the Auto Club Road to the Future Award as NHRA's top rookie driver, but despite two final-round appearances this year, he's still looking for his first win of the year.

And that's what Arana Jr. is focused on: Winning. He's third in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings and is close to locking up a berth in the Countdown to the Championship.

"We're not really worried about the playoffs too much," Arana Jr. said. "My dad and I are third and fourth, right there close to each other, and we have a little bit of cushion to fifth. To be third and fourth is pretty good. We're definitely secure, and we know we're going to be in the Countdown.

"Once the Countdown starts, everything resets, so we just need to focus on dialing in these bikes so once the Countdown starts, we can come out swinging."

Photo by Matt Polito