Larry Morgan
Michael C. Johnson
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 4) - There were a long few hours on a rainy Sunday where Larry Morgan, driver of the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang, thought his chances to make the Countdown to the Championship were over.
He was 17th quickest on the ladder, a mere .003 away from qualifying for the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Auto-Plus at Lucas Oil Raceway. Without making the field, any hope of a postseason berth for Morgan was lost.
"When I left the track that night I was mad as all get out," Morgan said. "We'd only got two chances to qualify out of a possible five because of the weather. The only thing I could do was go against all racing logic and hope for more rain."
Fortunately for the veteran racer, it rained enough to wash out Monday's scheduled eliminations, which was just the ray of hope Morgan was looking for. The race was rescheduled for this coming Saturday and Sunday, and qualifying has been reopened and is now slated to roll off on Saturday morning.
"We were so excited to hear that news," Morgan said. "We weren't just excited for us, we were excited because this is the biggest race of the year for the fans, and they will get to see some quality racing."
Morgan, like many Pro Stock drivers, will jog up to Martin, Mich., this week to squeeze in a few test runs before qualifying resumes. Like all drivers outside the top 12, Morgan will be starting from scratch when qualifying resumes.
Rodger Brogdon, driver of the MAVTV Chevy Camaro, was firmly in the "no rain" camp as he was qualified 15th on Monday morning. Now he goes back into the pool with no time as he tries to get his car into the field, again.
"It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen in drag racing," Brogdon said. "But we aren't going to let the grass grow under our feet. We're going to Martin to test for two days. With this new chassis and engine program, we need all the laps we can get. Hopefully we'll get closer on the tune-up and maybe move up a spot or two."
Source: Lucas Oil Racing
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments