Morgan powers his way into Englishtown Pro Stock field

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 2) – A week's worth of hard work and extra testing helped Larry Morgan and his Lucas Oil Ford Mustang Pro Stock program take a step forward by qualifying No. 14 for Sunday's eliminations at the 43rd annual Toyota NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

"We got a little bit better every round this weekend," Morgan said. "I just wish I had two more qualifying sessions to get this car really dialed in."

Morgan had a best run of 6.570 seconds at 209.98 mph to earn his spot in the field. He made the run during Saturday's final session, not on Friday night when conditions were optimal.

"If we wouldn't have tore a valve up on Friday night, we would have been even better," Morgan said. "Once again, it got us behind. If you lose a round, you fall behind. I'm just glad we're in. I'd hate to be in the position the guys who didn't get in the show are in right now. I've been there before and don't wish that feeling on anybody."

Morgan faces No. 3 qualifier Mike Edwards, who had a best lap of 6.529 seconds at 211.33 mph. Morgan said that a few more changes to the car and a good reaction time on Sunday morning will give the Lucas Oil Mustang a strong chance of winning a couple of rounds.

"We really haven’t got the top-end speed where we want it," Morgan said. "We thought about changing tires before that that round, but I didn't dare do it because I didn't want to mess up and get a DNQ.

"So we left the tires on and changed the gears hoping it would help. We picked up a little, so tomorrow morning we're going to change to the other tires, which have more run on them. We won't have to carry as much weight on the top end which should help us out even more."