Morgan reaches second seasoon final round in Denver
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2004 POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 13 of 23 MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY Morrison, Colo. Race Dates: July 16-18, 2004 MORRISON, Colo. (July 18, 2004) - Larry Morgan reached his second final round of the season today and the 16th of his Pro Stock career, but came just .0234 of a second short of winning a career 10th Pro Stock title at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. For the second time this year, his opponent in the other lane was dominating points leader Greg Anderson. It was a close match, but Anderson pulled ahead at the finish line to take the win with a 7.194-second elapsed time at 191.62 mph to Morgan's 7.199/192.06. Morgan and his team, newly under the Don Schumacher Racing banner and backed by Mopar, were not entirely disappointed after first disposing of JR Carr, then six-time NHRA champion Warren Johnson as well as his son Kurt Johnson en route to the final round. "I only wish we had won Mopar's race," Morgan rued. "I'd trade that for any race that I've ever won. "Hey, we can't be disappointed," he added. "We're really lucky to be in a position to win now. It will happen one of these next few races. Believe me. We're very confident. We're doing a decent job. We can't wait. "I just wish for Mopar, Don Schumacher and all of the guys in the shop that we had won, but, hey, we gave it a good shot. "We're good. We're there. They know we're capable of winning." The final round saw Anderson take off with a .022 reaction time to Morgan's .040, but it was still a tight ride to the finish. "We blew the tires off real bad. If it wasn't for that we would have run well," said Morgan, who moved into fourth in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock points. "We've been running on tires that were too small and the engine went through too high; we weren't geared right. This thing is in-between with the gear ratio that we need. We can't really get where we need to be. We ran two thousandths quicker down the back than Greg (Anderson) and that's good. We feel good about it. We just need a little luck, that's all we need. Just a little bit. "But the whole day was good. Were just proud to be out here racing for Mopar and Don Schumacher." As for the engine change the team considered last night, Morgan said, "We changed engines this morning. We decided to put in one we knew was real good on the dyno. We have two of them that are real, real good. The one we ran yesterday was the one we tested with, so we feel good. Were going to look strong when we go out West." Crew chief Bob Glidden took the heat for the loss. "Everything did good but the guys working on the car," he said. "We just didn't do a good job getting the car down the track. We were not close on the clutch all day. I missed the first round and after the first round you can't make any big jumps or you might lose the second round. And I just did not get close all day. "We ran well for the runs we were making. Larry did a great job this weekend," he added, "but we didn't win." Next up is the Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Seattle, Wash., July 23-25. PRO STOCK POINT STANDINGS: 1. Greg Anderson, 1390 2. Kurt Johnson, 934 3. Jason Line, 927 4. Larry Morgan, 769 5. Dave Connolly, 731 6. Jeg Coughlin, 633 ***