Morgan's Lucas Oil straight-liner turns a corner in performance
(10-6-2012) MOHNTON, PA – A switch to some new parts before Saturday's final Pro Stock session made all the difference in the world for Larry Morgan and the Lucas Oil Ford Mustang during the Uni-Select Auto Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
"I put different carburetors on it," Morgan said. "It made it come to life. We'd been having some problems with the carburetors in the past. We decided to open up some we just got back from Bob Book. They just worked real good."
After spending much of the weekend running in the 6.60-second range the switch to the new parts produced a lap of 6.574 seconds at 209.59 mph.
"Now we should be able to tune on it," Morgan said. "We should work it up to be able to run a 6.54 or 6.55, which is where we should have been running all along.
"We're looking forward to tomorrow, as long as it doesn't rain."
That Q4 pass brought Morgan up to the No. 12 spot on the ladder, where he will face No. 5 qualifier Greg Anderson in the first round. Anderson's best lap came in 6.569 seconds at 200.38 mph.
"We should be running a little better than what we are," Morgan said. "But we're still on a learning curve with this new fuel system that we're running. All we've got to do is try our best and do a good job tomorrow."
Morgan is part of a pack of four drivers who are separated by 15 points in the Pro Stock standings (Morgan is eighth, four points out of seventh). He said a round win or two on Sunday would go a long way toward separating himself from that pack a little bit.
"Now that we're headed in the right direction with the car, I we can scoop up some points," Morgan said. "It's always a challenge to get those wins because the class is so close, but we've shown we can hold our own when the chips are down."
Eliminations at the Uni-Select Auto Plus NHRA Nationals get under way at 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
Linear Mode
