Team owner Lucas fared the best so far, punching through with a 3.909 at 299.33 mph Friday that placed his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster a lofty second on the grid. Langdon came alive Saturday and ran a 3.920 at 303.43 mph in his Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper dragster, jumping all the way up to fifth despite a continuance of hotter-than-normal temperatures in the Pacific Northwest.

"We have a decent hold on both of our cars right now and I have a lot of confidence heading into race day," Lucas said. "Jimmy (Walsh) and Stewie (John Stewart, crew chiefs) have been working together well and they have a solid tune-up for both cars.

"The first thing we have to do tomorrow is make sure we get the cars down the track. You have to go from A-to-B to win these rounds. If we do what I know we're capable of doing we can go some rounds in both cars and get these things in position to win the race."

Langdon's run of record was the quickest pass of the third time trial, lifting his spirits considerably after his group encountered some minor mechanical gremlins Friday.

"Running low E.T. of any round is cool because it shows you that you were better than everyone else, at least for that round," Langdon said. "Morgan and me both got after it in the final session to see where the threshold was for the tune-ups and I think we're in for a good Sunday."

Lucas will open eliminations against Steve Chrisman, who never made it all the way down the track under power in qualifying with a best of just 8.755 at 111.33 mph. Langdon draws Doug Kalitta, who qualified 12th with a 4.035 at 289.57 mph.

"Tomorrow could be a whole new race if it really cools down like they say it's going to do," Lucas said. "But they said today was supposed to be cooler also and it really wasn't much different.

"The bottom line is we have to race to the best of our abilities regardless of what the track of the conditions are. We all race down the same track."

Eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

Courtesy of Rob Geiger