Lucas and crew chief Brooks ready for Texas final eliminations

Morgan Lucas

Photo by: NHRA

Lucas will be racing out of the No. 5 spot on Sunday after a best qualifying pass of 3.846 seconds at 315.49 mph, run during Friday's evening session.

Crew chief Aaron Brooks said that even though that run was solid, there is always room to improve on things.

"I was hoping the night run would be a little bit better," Brooks said. "It dropped a couple of cylinders downtrack. It was on pace to run a 3.82.

"On other runs this weekend we just missed the setup, smoked the tires and got a little behind. Going into tomorrow we're confident we've got a good handle on the track."

Brooks said he's looking forward to the first round matchup against No. 12 qualifier and defending race champion, Bob Vandergriff Jr.

"Tomorrow we'll see the best track of the weekend," Brooks said. "It's supposed to be a few degrees cooler and we'll be on the track earlier in the day than we've been at any point during the weekend. The first round, the track will be really good, and we'll have to adjust after that."

Vandergriff ran a 3.914-second pass at 312.13 mph as his best qualifying lap.

Lucas said that getting out on the track early in every round looks like it's going to be a an important strategy.

"You just see what (No. 1 qualifier) Shawn Langdon did today," Lucas said. "He was the first Top Fuel car to see the track today and put up a number that no one could touch. No matter how well they prep the track, the hotter it gets, the quicker the track goes away."

Brooks said solid passes and lane choice will go a long way during Sunday's racing.

"Lane choice becomes important here," Brooks said. "So beside wanting to run good enough to win you are hoping to get lane choice too, then adjust to conditions from there."

Source: Lucas Oil Racing