Lucas, Langdon Welcome Their European Teammate
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"Andy's a great guy and does an awesome job for us in Europe," Lucas said. "He's a lot of fun to hang out with and it's going to be cool to have three Lucas Oil dragsters racing in the same event, especially a big race like this one. We're glad to have him."
Rather than ship his own dragster over for the event, Carter is borrowing the Top Fuel rail belonging to IHRA Funny Car champion Terry Haddock. Several of Haddock's crewmen will assist Carter in preparing and racing the car, and Haddock himself plans to lend a hand as well.
"I'm under no illusions how tough this will be and as usual I will take it one step at a time," Carter said. "The first goal is to get the car qualified, and then I will go from there. The last two weeks have been hard work for Terry and his team. They have done an outstanding job and I'm really looking forward to working with them.
"My wife Sarah and I fly in Monday and from then on, I'll be doing all I can to get familiar with the car. Richard Bruton from our U.K. crew will arrive Wednesday and it will be great to have a familiar face around. Richard always backs me up, straps me in, mixes my fuel, and packs my chutes, so I'm delighted that he can join me for this race."
The last Englishman to compete on the NHRA tour was Clive Skilton, who raced stateside 30 years ago. More recently, Urs Erbacher of Switzerland has been representing the FIA tour in the U.S., racing to the semifinals of the NHRA Finals last November. Carter and Erbacher won the last two FIA Top Fuel titles between them.
"Urs has been doing a good job at the NHRA events he has attended," Carter said. "I really hope I can enjoy some success too and do a good job for Lucas Oil, Terry Haddock, and all my fans, family, and friends."
A rookie to the class, Langdon hopes to pick Carter's brain to gain some more insight into what it takes to win at the top level of the sport.
"He's a three-time champ and that's impressive to me," Langdon said. "I'm learning all I can at this point so I'm hoping he's got some pointers for me."
"I have a feeling Andy is going to fit right in," Lucas added. "Drag racing is the same no matter where you compete. If you can drive a racecar, and obviously Andy can do that, you have a chance to win. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him do well.
"First things first -- we need to get all three Lucas Oil dragsters in the field and then go from there on race day. It would be great to have a strong start for our entire race team, and Andy is a big part of that."