For Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana, this weekend's NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sears Point Raceway isn't about the destination, but the journey.

Arana and his team, including wife Grace and sons Hector Jr. and Adam, made the trek to Sonoma from Denver, site of last weekend's Mopar Mile-High Nationals. Along the way, the family/team stopped in Wyoming for some exploration and family time.

"During the trip, we stopped to do a little sightseeing," Arana said. "That breaks the routine of routine of trying to rush to the race track - and that's all we usually get to see. We'll stopped and went hiking in Wyoming. It's fun. You try to get as high as you can, and we're above the trees.

"The fun part and the scary part is going down. We got lost last time and we had to find a different way to go down. There was nothing so dramatic this time, and we had a blast."

The best part, the patriarch of one of Pro Stock Motorcycle's first families said, is having family with him.

"That's the greatest thing," Arana said. "I'll have my family with me, and it makes everything easier."

Once in Sonoma, Arana will turn his attention to getting his Lucas Oil Buell back up to speed. After qualifying No. 2 in Denver, Arana bowed out in the first round due to a mysterious mechanical issue.

"We have to find this problem," Arana said. "It's still here, and we've got to find it."

The loss in Denver was only the second time all season Arana has failed to get out of the first round, and it ended a streak of four consecutive races where he reached at least the semifinals.

Should he reach the semifinals in Sonoma, Arana would clinch a spot in the Countdown to the Championship with three races remaining before the NHRA's version of the playoffs begin.

Arana, fourth in the PSM points standings, has been plenty fast this season, as he's qualified No. 1 or 2 in the last six races of the season. In Denver, he used an older engine named "Charlotte" after the wife of Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas, instead of the normal engine in his Buell named "Forrest." Charlotte performed well in the altitude in Denver, so she may stay in the bike for Sonoma.

"This motor ran good in Denver, and it's a good engine," Arana said. "I don't know. It's a good engine, so why swap? First, I think I need to concentrate on my other problem rather than trying to swap engines."

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