Lucas and Langdon are race day favorites in Reading

READING, Pa. (Aug. 22) -- For the 12th time in 17 races this season Top Fuel teammates Morgan Lucas and Shawn Langdon will begin race day as top-half qualifiers at an NHRA national event. Despite losing half of the four scheduled qualifying sessions to rain, the duo from Indianapolis locked up the Nos. 2 and 7 slots on the grid, putting them in the "favorites" column for Sunday's 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.

Lucas was the quicker of the two, posting a best of 3.867 at 307.37 mph in his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster during Friday's round. He backed the run up Saturday with a nearly identical 3.868 at 302.35 mph and finishes qualifying in the No. 2 position.

"I've got to hand it to Antron (Brown)," Lucas said of one driver that ran quicker than him Saturday. "We were trying for a 3.83 but I don't think that (right) lane is as good as the other one. If we had got to run again tonight we would have taken a shot at it but so would everyone else.

"It would have been great to qualify on the pole again but there is absolutely no reason for us to be upset with anything that's happening with this team. Our car is so consistent and Shawn's car ran strong both laps here so we're happy. I'm ready to race."

Lucas will start his quest for back-to-back national event wins with a first-round race against part-timer Dave Grubnic, who qualified 15th with a 5.552 at 120.08 mph.

Across the pit, rookie-of-the-year candidate Langdon followed up his opening pass of 3.933 at 310.84 mph with a 3.947 at 295.08 mph in his Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper dragster. His seventh-place ranking places him opposite drag racing instructor Doug Foley, who is racing for the first time in almost a year. Foley's best pass was a 3.972 at 305.01 mph.

"We're finding our way along," Langdon said. "The main thing is the motor is happy and we're not hurting parts. Now we can start stepping on it more and more and get quicker. We can't be a tenth of a second off the lead guy and expect to win too much.

"I'm really proud of this team and the guys in this pit. They've been working so hard to get this car figured out and I feel really lucky to be the driver. I want to win for them more than anything because they deserve all the credit."

Eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

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Contact: Geiger Media at 281-354-5769 or rob@go2geiger.com.

Please visit www.geicogarage.com for more information on Morgan Lucas.

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