Current Category : News and Headlines :
GEICO racer Morgan Lucas starts 2012 as quickest qualifier
POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 9) -- Morgan Lucas got the drag racing season off to a roaring start Thursday, powering his 8,000-horsepower GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster down Pomona Raceway in 3.832 seconds at 320.28 mph to claim provisional low qualifier honors at the season-opening 52nd annual O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
Lucas has to survive three more rounds of qualifying -- one Friday and two Saturday -- if he wants to officially claim what would be his fifth career pole, but he was still pleased with his promising pass, the first under new crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi.
"Aaron and Rod are a lot of fun to work with yet they are still very serious about their jobs," Lucas said. "Aaron's very aggressive, and Rod's really sound when it comes to putting the car together. They're a really well-balanced pair, and they work well with the guys on the team, that core group who have been here a long time.
"When you bring guys in who have an advanced maintenance program and who know to approach things better – more of a modern spin instead of the old-school approach – it really opens your eyes to some of the areas that maybe you were missing out on that could have created inconsistencies or caused a hindrance toward performance."
Although Lucas won this event last year, he went winless for the rest of the season, so he knows not to get too excited about one run, no matter how good it appeared to be.
"My optimism level is very guarded," Lucas said. "In past years, I've been really optimistic coming into the season because of new people we hired or established situations within the team. I've learned not to get my hopes too far up and try to be a realist about it. You take the good when it comes but you need to be able to keep your head up when the bad is hanging around, too.
"To be honest with you, the win last year is so far out of my mind it's not even funny. Last year was so bad toward the middle and end of the season that, for us, it's more important to just get the car down the racetrack every run. I didn't think we were even trying to run that quick just now. It was only the first run of the season, but we're all excited to get this GEICO dragster down the race track, and hopefully get some more stuff to build off of and continue some progress throughout the season."
This race marks the first with longtime friend Brandon Bernstein, who is running the second team dragster sponsored by MavTV and Lucas Oil. Bernstein is fifth after a 3.865 at 314.90 mph.
"To have both of our cars go down the track in this opening qualifying session is a big confidence booster for everybody," Lucas said. "It's all about getting that consistency and looking toward the big picture."
Qualifying continues at 2 p.m. Friday, with Saturday's two sessions starting at 11:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. PST. Eliminations start at 11 a.m. Sunday. ESPN2 will broadcast the qualifying show starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday and eliminations at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
