GEICO Powersports racer Lucas rounding into top form

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 19) -- It's taken longer than he like, but Morgan Lucas said the GEICO Powersports dragster is finally getting back to where he wants it to be.

"We just kept peeling a bunch (of power) off of it -- just more and more," Lucas said. "I think we've finally gone on the other side of it so now we know the limits."

Lucas put his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil rail into the field of this weekend's 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in the No. 14 spot with a best pass of 4.090 seconds at 286.07 mph. That best run for Lucas was made in the heat of the day on Saturday, when most of the rest of the field made their best runs in the much cooler conditions on Friday night.

"Runs like the last one are what we've been trying to do," Lucas said. "It's what I wanted to see us do this morning. It might have put us a couple of runs behind, but I'm not going to complain. We've got to start somewhere."

When eliminations begin, Lucas will square off against point leader Larry Dixon, who is shooting for this third straight win in Top Fuel. Dixon got into the field with a Friday night pass of 3.882 seconds at 311.77 mph.

In the round when Lucas ran his 4.090, Dixon ran a 4.049 at 254.95 mph, giving the group hope they can make a run against him. Lucas said he's also going to get information from teammate Shawn Langdon as well.

"It's weird because we can run the same exact parts as Shawn's car, but they don't always act the same way," Lucas said. "We need to find a new way to learn off each other, take it the right direction, and take advice when we need advice."

Lucas said the next big test for the car will be how it performs on race day.

"I'll get really confident when we turn on enough win lights," he said. "We're getting closer and working our way out of the funk we've been in."

Eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals begin at noon EDT on Sunday from Bristol Dragway. ESPN2 will televise the race in primetime.