Morgan Lucas had his own personal celebration at Indianapolis last September, winning the Top Fuel trophy at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

This month, he’ll help the entire state of Indiana celebrate its 200th birthday.

Lucas, born in Indiana’s capital of Corydon, will carry a symbolic beacon that, like in Olympic Games intercontinental-unity fashion, will snake its way 3,200 miles throughout the state’s 92 counties.

He’ll do it at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 23 in the most unusual way – aboard his Lucas Oil Dragster, powering down the NHRA-owned dragstrip that bears his family business’ branding.

“We’re going to mount the torch to the rear wing. It should stay lit. It’s designed to stay lit. We’re going to do a full burnout and a launch – we’re going to do the whole thing and see what happens,” Lucas said. “We’re going to go up there and hit the gas. And if it goes 300 miles an hour, that’s awesome. If we only go out 100 feet and it shake or smokes [the tires] or does something stupid and we idle down, we still get cool footage. We can’t promise we’re going to go down the track, but we’re going to have some fun trying. If it doesn’t fire they’re going to have to take the tow strap to it and take it down there that way.

“Either way, the pipes are going to be fully lit at some point and you’re going to have that torch back there – and somebody’s going to get a really neat photo of it,” he said.

“It’s already going to be on fire,” he said of the torch. Then he joked, “I hope we don’t re-light it.”

“We only get one chance in our lifetime for a bicentennial torch relay, so this is really cool,” Lucas said before making his first qualifying pass of the weekend. “It’s an honor. The fact the state is considering the racetrack, the dragstrip, Lucas Oil Raceway to be a fundamental part of what is going on in the state and the economy is a big deal.”

The torch is a focal point on the blue and gold state flag, and this torch for the relay is a design product of Purdue University engineering-department faculty and students.

Lucas said, “It looks beautiful. It’s not like you’re carrying around a club with fire on the end of it. It’s a really well-designed, well-built piece of equipment.”

Bearers will pass the flame from one to another, using along the route modes of transportation symbolic of the history and heritage of Indiana. Along with Lucas’ race car, perhaps Indiana’s most globally recognizable vehicle, the exercise will feature farm equipment, a horse and wagon, an antique automobile, and watercraft.

“Indiana is such a diverse state. A lot of people don’t realize how diverse it really is,” Lucas said. “Motorsport is a big part of the economy. I know the [relay organizers] are trying to find a way to showcase more than just the cornfields and things people think about when they think of Indiana.”

Lucas – who was born in Corydon, grew up in Southern California, and lives in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel with his wife Katie and their two sons – said the Hoosier capital is “a great city. You have all the amenities of a big city here but with a small-town feature where everybody knows each other – and you don’t have all the massive traffic that makes you have road rage. It’s a happy place. My quality of life has been better since being here. That’s why it’s such an honor to have the opportunity to take our car and our team and represent drag racing.

“In my life, I’ve been dealt a good set of cards, and I’ve had a lot of cool experiences,” Lucas said. “But I’m sure this is going to rank up toward the top. I’m really excited about the opportunity, and the guys on the team seem like they’re into it, as well. For us, it’s a rare opportunity, and they’ve never had it on the back of a Top Fuel car.”

The journey will begin September 9 at Corydon and end October 15 at Indianapolis, on the grounds of the Statehouse, site of an all-inclusive Hoosier celebration. The torch will travel six days a week (with Mondays off) for five weeks (a total of 32 days). Lucas said the public is invited to witness the spectacle: “They want people to come out. So if anyone wants to check it out, feel free. It’s a really neat deal.”

Accompanying the torch will be a caravan that includes the Indiana Bicentennial Experience, a museum on wheels that celebrates the history and culture of the Hoosier State.