At Charlotte, Playoffs provide fresh start for Morgan Lucas

CHARLOTTE - With three wins and four No. 1 qualifiers in the GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster during the NHRA's regular season, driver Morgan Lucas is brimming with confidence as the six-race Countdown to the Championship begins.

Morgan Lucas

Photo by: NHRA

With the class points reset for the beginning of the Countdown and the end of summer's heat and humidity, Lucas is anticipating big things down the stretch, starting with this weekend's O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte.

"I feel good about the car going into some of these racetracks with the conditions we should be seeing," Lucas said. "We've got as good of a car as anyone out there. Charlotte can have a tricky surface, but I think we learned a lot during our test there after the spring race and we'll be ready for whatever happens.

"We've never had a ton of luck there, so it will be nice to turn that around."

Lucas starts the Countdown in sixth place, a little more than two rounds (70 points) behind leader Antron Brown.

"We've never been in this kind of position to really chase the championship," Lucas said. "Right now our goal is to do everything we can to win races and put ourselves in position to be concerned about the points when the last couple of races roll around on the schedule."

Lucas goes into Charlotte having qualified fifth or better in each of the last two races and has one win in that timeframe.

"The car really wants to run hard right now, sometimes a little too hard," Lucas said. "We're close to finding the same consistency that the car had at the beginning of the season. When (crew chief) Aaron Brooks and the guys find that combination we're going to be a real handful."

Source: GEICO/Lucas Oil Racing