Morgan Wins Nationals First Win Since 1994
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals Infineon Raceway Notes & Quotes Aug. 4, 2002 Morgan Wins Fram Autolite Nationals First Victory Since 1994 for the Veteran Mopar Driver SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 4, 2002) It was a magical day for Larry Morgan and the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T. The Newark, Ohio, resident regained some of his old-time Pro Stock glory by winning his ninth NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event today at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. Morgan, who won his first NHRA Pro Stock category event since Englishtown, N.J., in 1994 and participated in his first final since Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.) in 1997, used two holeshot starting-line advantages en route to victory. ³I can tell you right now, Bob Glidden helped me get this victory,² said a jubilant Morgan. ³I can¹t tell you what we figured out, but what we did really helped me out. If it was not for him, I¹d still be struggling.² In the final, Morgan took a .437 to .483 starting-line advantage on Greg Anderson; and his 6.845-second elapsed time at 201.58 mph was enough to hold him off. Anderson clocked a quicker 6.799-second elapsed time at 202.45 mph. The semifinal was a similar story for the Newark, Ohio, resident. Morgan, after staging a brief burn down with 2000 champion Jeg Coughlin, Jr., slapped a holeshot of .431 to .493 to gain the victory. Morgan clocked a 6.842-second lap at 201.31 mph, which was just enough to beat out Coughlin¹s 6.809-second run at 202.61 mph. ³I figured I¹d better get them (on the tree),² Morgan added. ³Those kids I¹m racing are sure good on their lights though. The thing is, I never go in there with a game plan. I usually get up there and don¹t plan on doing anything. I just got lucky and everything went my way. It was Bill Elliot¹s day, and it was mine too. ³We¹ve worked real hard at this new Hemi program,² Morgan continued. ³I left General Motors in 1999 to work on this program because I knew there was a big future in it. As you can see, it is all starting to come together because we had six Hemi cars in the program today. We¹re just real proud of that fact alone. Without the support from Mopar, we wouldn¹t be anywhere near where we are todayt.² Morgan advanced by defeating Mark Whisnant in the first round and fellow Hemi-powered driver Greg Stanfield in round two. Bill Elliot, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Motorsports Intrepid NASCAR Winston Cup Series entry, won today¹s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; making it the second-straight weekend that at least two Dodge¹s have visited victory lane. DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Dean Skuza is one of the hottest drivers on the NHRA Funny Car circuit. For the third-straight race, the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Nitro Funny Car pilot drove to the semifinals. And once again, Skuza faced off against John Force in a round of eliminations. But Force took the upper hand this time with a 4.890-second elapsed time at 306.67 mph; as Skuza¹s hopes went up in smoke. ³We¹re not going to be satisfied until we win races,² Skuza said. ³That¹s the way this team has been assembled and that¹s why this new Dodge Stratus body was created. It¹s not to go out and get to the semifinals all the time. None of us are satisfied again. I think we found the culprit and that¹s the good thing. ³It was something in the clutch,² Skuza added. ³The only way you find these little nuances and little problems is to go rounds. Unfortunately, we didn¹t go-rounds earlier this year. We have been lately. Race day is a different scenario than qualifying or even match racing. You can test all that you want, but when you seat the clutch and you¹re up on the line an hour later, the temperatures are different. We¹re going to Columbus for the Mopar Nationals next weekend and we¹re going to run the car like we¹re running in eliminations. We¹re going to figure out why we can¹t take that little step and get over the edge. Once we do that, I think you¹ll see us go to some finals and win some races.² Skuza moved into the semifinals with a round one victory over Cruz Pedregon and a second-round defeat of Whit Bazemore. In the second round, Skuza ran a 4.946-second lap at 301.07 mph. GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Gene Wilson and the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T ran a solid 6.798-second elapsed time at 202.73 mph, but it wasn¹t enough to overcome V. Gaines starting-line advantage and 6.845-second pass at 202.67 mph. ³At least the track was awesome,² said a frustrated Wilson. ³V., had a .417 light and I had a .474. What else can I say? It¹s just more bad luck for me. The car was there, but I didn¹t get he job done on the tree.² DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Darrell Alderman, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, grabbed a holeshot on Kurt Johnson (.461-.478), but severe tire shake ended his day early. Johnson clicked off a 6.798-second lap at 203.46 mph to Alderman¹s slower 6.910-second pass at 202.21 mph. ³We spun a little too hard,² Alderman said. ³We shook pretty hard and that¹s part of it. And I think the right lane is a lot better out there.² Alderman¹s 10th-qualifying slot gave Johnson lane choice, who went with the right. GREG STANFIELD, driver of the DBP Motorsports Dodge Neon R/T In an all-Dodge second round, Larry Morgan knocked Greg Stanfield out. Stanfield and the DBP Motorsports Hemi-powered Dodge Neon R/T ran a solid 6.832-second elapsed time at 202.27 mph. Stanfield advanced to the second round with a holeshot (.441-.492) victory on point leader Jim Yates in round one. The Bossier City, La., resident logged a slower 6.842-second lap at 202.55 mph, but it was too much for Yates¹ 6.793-second run at 202.76 mph. ³It was Dodge against Dodge out there,² Stanfield said. ³We knew it was going to be a tough run. We still have a lot to learn with our car. I¹m real happy with where we are right now. I think we have decent power; I¹m not sure that we have top of the line power just yet. I need time. The biggest commodity of today is time.² -Mopar.com- David Harris, Cox Marketing Group Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series davidh@coxmarketinggroup.com (704) 799-2114 office (704) 756-9301 - mobile