Morgan Lucas Racing
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Sat, March 29th 2008
Now THAT was a pretty wretched weekend, people.
A DNQ in TA/D, a DNQ in Top Fuel for JR, and a first round strike out for Morgan. What was the good news?
I’m still thinking.
Morgan and JR got an interview on ESPN’s pre-race coverage, the feature that was shot with them earlier in the year was aired, and away from the track there was some positive energy. But the reason we go to the races is to win, not for the positive energy.
Morgan looked a little on edge on Saturday and I told him so. “Well, there’s just a lot going on lately. We didn’t qualify the alcohol car after three No. 1 qualifying starts. We just made a change with the Top Fuel teams with John (Stewart) tuning both cars, so, ya know, I’m just trying to stay ahead of everything.”
And that’s the downside of being the driver AND the team owner in the NHRA. How guys like Morgan, Bob Vandergriff, Tim Wilkerson, Del Worsham, etc. can both drive and deal with the other totally less-fun duties of owning the team at the same time is a good trick. I couldn’t do it.
JR was bummed out when he missed the field. He took my suggestion on Saturday afternoon after getting the DNQ and sat in with Bob Frey up on the announce deck for the first round of Top Fuel eliminations. I told JR that when he goes up there, he needs to be opinionated, honest, and not play the PC, “I love everyone” game that a lot of drivers play when on the microphone. It’s boring and doesn’t give me anything worth listening to.
Jr. did OK, although he did fall into the “They’re a great team and you can’t count them out” cliché once or twice. What would I say if I were a driver sitting up there adding race commentary? Here are some examples:
1. “If _____________doesn’t beat _______________ in this matchup I’ll be shocked. This is a real mismatch. Could we see an upset? Sure, but I’m not betting the farm on it”.
2. “I can almost guarantee you that ____________________will have a better reaction time here. He’s just an animal at the Tree and I’m betting he drops a great leave on ___________________ in just a second.”
3. “Here’s a guy I love beating. The last time I beat him it was the greatest feeling in the world. I like him as a person but I can’t wait to drill him when we race.”
4. I know __________________is the underdog here but I think ___________________ might be a little overconfident right now and let this one get away. Don’t ask me why, it’s just a feeling. I’ve been wrong before but my gut tells me ____________________ is going to pull off the upset.”
5. If I’m not all wet, _____________________ will run low elapsed time of the race right now. The track is cooler, ___________________ knows he’s going to have to get after it to beat _______________ in the other lane so I’m thinking we’re going to see a 4.50-something from him.”
Now, there was nothing unsportsmanlike or insulting to anyone an any of those above examples. C’mon folks, we’re all adults, this is a competitive sport, and we all have our opinions. Since when did it become against the law to share them, especially when, as a driver, you’ve got some genuine cred to back up your observations. Sure beats being boring.
That’s it, I’m done for now. Vegas next. It’ll be fun. That place is a trip. Seems sucky weekends are a little less so out there. What’s even better is not having a sucky weekend in the first place.