Resilent Lucas Ready to Race in Texas Motorplex Showdown

ENNIS, Texas. Sept. 16, 2008 - It would be easy for Morgan Lucas to hang his head about missing the Countdown to 1, NHRA's championship playoff system, but this Brownsburg, Ind., resident is all about winning and he hasn't thought about anything else but improving his Lucas Oil Stabilizer Top Fuel dragster team for this weekend's O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals.

"We're taking the higher road and working on constantly improving," said Lucas, Top Fuel's youngest driver. "We missed the Countdown, but we're not going to let it get us down. We have a strong team and with now Jimmy Walsh on board, I look forward to seeing things improving."

In Lucas' fifth attempt at the Texas Motorplex, his best run was in 2004 when he reached the semi-finals; however, the 24-year old driver knows that now is the time to start preparing for the 2009 season. When he gets to the track, then he can relay the set up to his crew chief, Walsh and then start mounting a charge.

"Anytime you can find the consistency in the car, that's the first step in building a program," said Lucas. "Just give us some time to figure out what the car wants and then we'll have something to build on. It's that consistency that has evaded us. We are strong and can easily make great runs.just need to be more aggressive at the starting line."

The start of the 23rd annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals begins at the Texas Motorplex on Friday, September 19 with two nitro qualifying sessions starting at 3:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (EDT). On Saturday, the Top Fuel dragsters will have two additional qualifying sessions at 12:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. The race starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 21.