LAS VEGAS (April 14) -- Never afraid to speak his mind, Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas was quick to admit that his semifinal run Sunday at the last NHRA tour stop in Houston included a few lucky breaks along the way. But with his eyes firmly set on this weekend's 11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at the state-of-the-art Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Lucas says a permanent change of fortune isn't far off.
"I'd put Jimmy (Walsh) up against any crew chief out there, and I know this crew is the best in the business, we just haven't found our rhythm yet," said Lucas, driver of the GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster. "This is the same team that won three races last year and had a decent run at winning it all in the playoffs. Nothing's changed. It's just the nature of the sport. Sometimes it all clicks and sometimes it doesn't."
Lucas actually enters this weekend's event in almost the exact same position as one year ago. In 2009, he had five round wins to his credit and was sixth in the points. This time through he has four round wins and is seventh overall, just 18 markers off his '09 pace.
"If we have another good race, we can actually leave town in a better position than last year," said Lucas, who at 26 years old is the youngest full-time pro in the nitro ranks. "And we got on a nice roll after Vegas and won our first race right away at the next stop in Atlanta so Vegas definitely has been a city where our luck has changed for the better.
"It's a fun town and I want to make sure and spend some time with the guys away from the track, just doing things that aren't related to racing. We've all been hard on ourselves because we expect the best but we need to remember to enjoy the ride. When we were winning races last year it was when we were more relaxed."
Lucas and teammate Shawn Langdon, along with several other NHRA pros, will begin their weekend in Sin City with a Fan Fest at 7 p.m., Thursday, in Town Square West, located at 6605 Las Vegas Boulevard.
Professional qualifying begins with two sessions at 1 and 4 p.m. Friday.
