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Morgan Lucas Victorious at 49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals; Moves into Second in National Point
Morgan Lucas drove his Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster to his first career Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park. With this win, Lucas moves into second place in the national points standings.
“This is the biggest race of the year and we won the title,” said young nineteen-year-old Lucas. “Winning this race is every drivers dream and we were able to win this from the pole position which makes it that much sweeter.”
The biggest race of the season is notoriously held over Labor Day weekend but due to severe weather conditions, the event was rescheduled for Sept. 5-7. Before the race was postponed, Lucas earned his sixth season low qualifier award with an elapsed time of 5.314-seconds at 264.80 miles per hour.
Lucas faced defending U.S. Nationals champion, John Haley in the first round of eliminations on Saturday morning. Haley held a slight advantage off the starting line with a 0.051-second reaction time to Lucas’ 0.059-second light. Haley led the race until the 1000-foot mark when Lucas drove around him with a 5.350 E.T. (265.22 mph) for the win.
In the quarterfinals, Lucas was paired against No. 8 qualifier, Michael Gunderson who broke before staging. NHRA starter Rick Stewart shut off Gunderson at the line so Lucas ran a solo pass and posted an elapsed time of 5.324-seconds at 263.98 mph.
For the first time this season, Lucas faced Marty Thacker during the semifinals. Thacker beat Lucas off the line with a 0.028 reaction times against Lucas’ 0.044-second light. The advantage for Thacker stopped there as Lucas posted a 5.405-second pass at 262.69 mph to gain lane choice over Shelly Howard in the final round.
The final round of the U.S. Nationals saw Lucas’ A-Fuel Dragster pitted against Howard’s Blown Alcohol Dragster. Lucas ran away with the win after being first off the line coupled with Howard’s early tire shake. Lucas ran a 5.412-second E.T. at 262.13 miles per hour.
“Winning this race was absolutely a team effort,” said Lucas. “Jerry and the guys worked hard for two weekends to get this car to perform like it did this weekend. I can’t say enough about this whole crew.”
“I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my mom (Charlotte Lucas), dad (Forrest Lucas) and Lucas Oil for standing behind me,” continued the Southern California native. “Without them none of this would have been possible.”
The next scheduled event for Lucas will be the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Penn (Sept. 11-14).
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series television coverage from the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will air on ESPN2 Sept. 13 at 4:00 a.m. (ET).
For more information on Lucas, logon to www.MorganLucas.com.
