Morgan Drives to the Semifinals at Indy

Team Mopar 
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis Raceway Park  Clermont, Ind.
Elimination Notes & Quotes

Morgan Streaks to the Semifinals at the U.S. Nationals
Mopar Funny Car Wrap Up

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 7, 2003)  Mopar¹s Larry Morgan trekked to the
semifinals during today¹s rain-delayed 49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

On the strength of a strong fifth-place qualifying effort, Morgan moved into
the semifinals before falling to Kurt Johnson. Against Johnson, the Newark,
Ohio, resident took a (.029 to .037) of a second starting-line advantage,
but his 6.873-second elapsed time at 201.88 mph wasn¹t enough in the end.
Johnson posted a quicker 6.831-second pass at 201.88 mph.

³I¹m so proud of both of these teams today,² said Morgan, commenting on
teammate Gene Wilson¹s second-round appearance. ³We just made a horrible run
on that last one. But, it was a great weekend for us. I have nothing to
complain about.

³We don¹t have but a dozen runs on our new Stratus,² Morgan continued. ³It¹s
going to be a great race car. (Chassis builder) Rick Jones and (Mopar
aero-thermal engineer) Terry DeKoninck have done a great job with this new
car. And I can¹t say enough for how hard my team has worked to get us to
this point. I¹m really looking forward to Reading (Pa.) because I think we
might have something for them.²

Morgan, who won this event back in 1989, beat six-time U.S. Nationals winner
Warren Johnson on a holeshot in round number one. His .018 of a second
reaction time and 6.834-second pass at 200.95 mph was enough to hold off
W.J.¹s slightly quicker 6.823/202.58 combination. In the second round,
Morgan left on Jim Yates and pulled away with a 6.862-second elapsed time at
201.04 mph. Yates recorded a slower 6.867-second lap at 201.10 mph.

Wilson traveled to the second round in his Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus today.
The Georgia resident lost to Jeg Coughlin, Jr., after posting a 6.870-second
elapsed time at 201.13 mph. Despite having a slower reaction time by .006 of
a second, Coughlin¹s 6.812-second lap at 201.16 was quick enough to eclipse
the 2002 NHRA Rookie of the Year.

³Jeggy and I always give it a hundred percent when we¹re up there,² Wilson
said. ³I was good enough to come out on top at the starting line, but there
wasn¹t enough there at the end. We were a little aggressive today in the
second round, and knew we had to make an awesome run. We went for it, but
the track wasn¹t there to hold it. A lot of heat built up into the track
before we were able to make our pass and we didn¹t plan for that. You have
to have a little luck on your side. It takes that and a good team to win. I
have the good team and Mopar backing us, but I just need a little good luck
now. I¹m happy to go a round here at the U.S. Nationals because this is such
a great race. We both went round today. What more can you ask for -- this is
a great deal.²

Wilson moved into the second round after defeating Taylor Lastor in round
one. The 30-year-old Wilson drove around the slower Lastor with a
6.844-second elapsed time at 201.07 mph.

Mopar¹s Allen Johnson did his job on the starting line, taking a .030 of a
second advantage on Coughlin, Jr. But, Coughlin¹s 6.814-second elapsed time
at 201.16 mph was enough to beat out Johnson¹s 6.855-second lap at 201.07
mph.

³The right lane seems to be a couple hundredths slower than the left lane,²
Johnson said. ³That¹s the case in Pro Stock, you have to run well in
qualifying and pick up lane choice. When you run behind the fuel cars, there
is always a better lane out there. The team did what we needed to do, we
made the third best run of the round in that lane, and I did my job, but it
wasn¹t enough. We¹ll regroup at Reading (Pa.) next weekend.

³We went for the jugular that time,² Johnson added. ³When we get our car
running a little better, we¹ll be something to deal with. We¹re really
making good runs and I¹m driving pretty decent now. Maybe Reading will be
it.²

Mopar Funny Car Wrap UpŠ

Gary Scelzi and the Oakley Dodge Stratus lost in the first round to Tim
Wilkerson. Scelzi, who qualified second, experienced mechanical trouble and
only run a 4.968-second elapsed time at 299.80 mph. Wilkerson drove to a
quicker 4.829-second pass at 321.27 mph.

³We put a hole out right at the hit of the throttle,² Scelzi said. ³We
haven¹t done that in a long time. We recycle our stuff all the time and I
have no idea what happened. Whatever happened, it completely ruined us from
the hit of the throttle. It tried to drive out of the groove, and it almost
hit the centerline. I saved it, but it dropped another cylinder at the top
end as well. It¹s unfortunate, but we have a good race car and we¹ve been
really good since Denver. We¹ll be good again, but this isn¹t the race you
want to get bit at. But you can¹t choose, so we¹ll pick ourselves up, dust
ourselves off and go do this thing again next weekend.²

Whit Bazemore, driver of the Matco Tools Dodge Stratus, was edged out in his
first round loss to Cruz Pedregon. The local Indianapolis resident made a
4.886-second lap at 316.67 mph, but it wasn¹t enough to run down Pedregon¹s
4.887-second elapsed time at 313.88 mph.

³That was a very tough loss,² Bazemore said. ³I feel really bad for the team
because we had such a great car this weekend. I did the best I could, but it
was only decent. Cruz did a slight better job on the lights (.061-.069) and
he won. We got beat. This is why we don¹t run these races on paper because
anything can happen. We¹ll suck it up because we have three more in a row.
I¹m excited to think about where we are going to be within the next three
weeks.²