Morgan Lucas Racing
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Mon, June 9th 2008
Morgan advanced to the semi-finals this weekend in Joliet, but he could have gone further than that with another run in the semi’s similar to either one of his runs in the first two rounds. That 4.599 in his Round 1 win over Alan Bradshaw would have come in handy against Hot Rod Fuller two rounds later. End of the line.
The last time Morgan advanced to the semi’s was at the first race of the year in Pomona. It was also the last time he posted a 4.50’s pass in eliminations. Since then, it has been a rag-tag series of good runs and not-so-good runs that would drive anyone crazy. One of the most frequently used expressions in drag racing is “We think we found something” and it usually refers to a problem in the setup that’s finally been corrected or a new wrinkle somewhere on the race car that the team believes will pick up its performance.
Unfortunately, more often than not, it’s more wishful thinking than a genuine breakthrough.
Last year, it appeared as if Morgan’s team had found something—right around the time that Rahn Tobler had come aboard as crew chief. But the improvement wasn’t long-lasting and since then, the search for consistent performance and a combination that can be easily adapted to the varying tracks and conditions has fallen into the hands of several tuners. Maybe this weekend’s trip to the semi’s, a couple of good-looking passes in qualifying, and that 4.599 in the first round on Sunday will signify that the guys have “found something”.
Morgan and J.R. are still outside the top ten, and when the points are all counted up after the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy in a few months, only the top ten drivers move on to the Promised Land. Team Lucas Oil needs to find that “something” sooner than later.
A bit of drag racing philosophy:
If anyone in a pro category advances to at least the semi-finals at every one of the 18 regular season national events, it’s almost a lock they will be at or near the top of the POWERade standings. Do the math.
We just had our 10th national event of the season, so we’re one race beyond the halfway point of the first stage of the Countdown. Tony Schumacher leads the Top Fuel points and has 27 round wins. Sure, he’s won four races and advanced to the final round six times but if any driver had advanced to the semi-finals in the first ten races of the season, he’d have 20 rounds wins, putting him within striking distance of Tony. Want more proof? Antron Brown is currently second in the points and has only 18 round wins so far!
Now, with a little imagination, you can picture a driver consistently winning the first two rounds of eliminations, advancing to a final round or two, and being in a strong position to head into the Countdown to One as a top seed.
Of course, if anyone thinks rolling right through the first two rounds of every national event in Top Fuel is a breeze, they should think that through a little more. I guess my point is that winning races is why everyone is out there drag racing and it’s what makes the headlines and the cover of National Dragster, but it’s possible to win the POWERade championship without running up a whole bunch of race victories. It can be done with two round wins at every single event and a final round thrown in every now and again.
Of course, there’s the story of Rob Bruins, the 1979 NHRA Top Fuel champion who didn’t win a single race all year, but that was almost thirty years ago and the Top Fuel world is a very different place today.
It’s on to Englishtown.