With just eight elimination days left before the '09 Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin,
Top Fuel teammates Morgan Lucas and Shawn Langdon know each round of racing they can gain in the
hot summer months is extremely valuable. As such, the two are ready to fight for the title of
Sunday's 40th annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals.
For the eighth time in the season's first 11 races, Lucas and Langdon will both start race day in
the favored top half of the field after a pair of solid qualifying efforts. Lucas' best of 3.858 at
308.07 mph from Friday placed his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster in the No. 4 spot overall,
while Langdon's improved 3.882 at 289.07 mph on Saturday afternoon earned the No. 6 slot for his
Lucas Oil/Dixie Choppers dragster.
"I'm really excited about the runs we made in both cars," said Lucas, who owns his car and
Langdon's ride. "We've made so much progress just getting the car to repeat. I'm as excited as I've
been in awhile. We really needed this because we were all beating ourselves up pretty good. Credit
the crew guys because they never backed off."
Lucas will open against No. 13 qualifier Terry Haddock, a part-time driver he has never faced in
five years of drag racing. Langdon will race Terry McMillen, who qualified 11th with a 4.061 at
293.60 mph. Langdon beat McMillen in their only previous meeting earlier this season in
Gainesville, Fla.
"We improved (Saturday) so that was good," Langdon said, "because that round will probably be
pretty similar to the opening round Sunday as far as conditions go. Once again, our car went down
the track every pass. We actually could have run a 3.83 in that last session but the car started
spinning the tires a little down track."
Entering this event, Lucas held the sixth position in the world rankings, while Langdon was eighth.
A strong showing by either driver could lift them into the top five.
"We got cut short by rain Saturday and whenever that happens it takes a bit of a toll on the racing
surface," said Lucas, a winner earlier this year in Atlanta. "But we've had rain in eight of the
first 11 races this year so we're used to it. Heck, it was raining on and off all day in Atlanta
and we won that race so maybe it's good luck for us."
Weather permitting; eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. ET.
