After promising first-round victories that featured Morgan Lucas running the quickest pass of the
weekend and his teammate Shawn Langdon upsetting a higher qualified car, both men ended up on the
wrong side of extremely close quarterfinal races.
Lucas blew everyone away in the first round when he went 3.9829 at 312.28 mph in his GEICO
Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster in an easy win over Terry Haddock, who had an 8.805 at 67.80 mph
after losing traction early in his run.
"We got everyone's attention with that run," Lucas said. "We've had several rounds over the last
few races where we've had the quickest car and that's very encouraging. I firmly believe we have a
car that can win a few more times down the stretch and when you have runs like that it just
reinforces that thought process."
Up next, Lucas faced red-hot pro Larry Dixon and once again he was quick, running a great 3.873 at
313.22 mph down the 1,000-foot course. The only problem was Dixon was slightly better, posting a
3.870 at 311.99 mph to take the win.
"We had some tire spin between the starting line and the 60-foot timer and we just kind of carried
that down the track," Lucas said. "We just barely missed it. Even so, to be the quickest of Round 1
and the second quickest in Round 2, that makes it pretty hard to get upset. I'm proud of my guys
and the effort they've put forth."
The No. 9 qualifier at the start of the day, Langdon was tested early when Round 1 opponent Pat
Dakin ran a 3.892 at 308.78 mph. But the rookie of the year candidate answered with a slightly
quicker 3.889 at 308.92 mph that was bolstered by his .009-second headstart.
That advanced Langdon and his Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper dragster to a second round date with good
friend Spencer Massey. This time Massey got the edge, running a 3.877 at 309.42 mph just ahead of
Langdon's 3.887 at 308.78 mph.
"It was just a good drag race," Langdon said. "All you can do after a run like that is shake the
guy's hand.
"The good news out of this weekend is that our car was very consistent. We ran high 3.8s and low
3.9s every time we went down the track. We're making good runs. We just need to step it up a couple
hundreds for the playoffs so we can go more rounds and start knocking off some of the big guns. We
have the capabilities for sure. This is a team full of veterans that know how to get it done."
The NHRA Full Throttle tour takes a weekend off before heading to Charlotte, Sept. 18-20, for the
Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway, the officially starting point for the six-race playoffs -- the
Countdown to 1. The points will be reset before the event with the 10 racers eligible for the
championship separated by just 10 points each in order of the way they finished the regular season.
For the first time in Morgan Lucas Racing's brief history, both team drivers have qualified for the
post season.
