Lucas returns to site of first professional win

ATLANTA (May 12) -- Atlanta Dragway is not just another drag strip to Morgan Lucas, driver of the GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster.

A number of career firsts for Lucas have occurred on this particular strip of concrete and asphalt, including his first No. 1 qualifier and his first win as a pro, which came at last year's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.

Naturally this year's edition of the 30-year-old event mark be another first in Lucas' career -- the first race where he'll be defending event champion.

"It's exciting," Lucas said. "You can say that you're not thinking about it, but you're thinking about it. Anybody who says they don't think about stuff like that is just lying.

"I've always had decent luck at Atlanta. My first No. 1 qualifier was there in 2005. I went a couple of rounds that race and at a couple of other races. Last year we had some luck and got the win. It's a favorite place of mine, for sure.

"Going to a track where you have had success puts you in the mindset where all you think about is racing and winning."

Lucas said he's got more reasons behind his excitement than just returning to the site of his first pro victory. The team has made some performance breakthroughs in the last few weeks and he can't wait to see them take shape at the track.

"We've found some really cool stuff at the shop and we've been creeping up on something lately," Lucas said. "It makes me that much more optimistic about going to the event.

"We made some big changes in the bell housing and that right there was the biggest difference in my opinion. The window for tuning these cars gets small sometimes and consistency is always the most important thing. Last few races we've been making ET gains and trying to have good runs. Right now the car is talking to us and we're trying to listen to it."

Defending champs at races tend to get a little more attention and Lucas said he's going to be mindful so that it doesn't take away from the weekend's goal of repeating as race champion.

"It's going to be a different feeling and hopefully we'll get some extra exposure out of it," Lucas said. "The most important thing is to not get distracted with that kind of stuff and not putting too much pressure on ourselves. You just need to go up there and know you can win."

Qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals begins at 3:45 p.m. EDT on May 14 with eliminations starting at 11 a.m. on May 16.