EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - A SOGGY SOMEWHAT COMPLETION

The Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Top Fuel final Sunday came down to two racers who both have a fondness for the track in the rustic Minnesota northwoods, near Brainerd.  

Morgan Lucas made his professional debut here in 2004, a decade ago as a 20-year-old, driving for Joe Amato, the five-time series champion who won at Brainerd International Raceway a class-best six times. But he had won here in the Top Alcohol Dragster final in 2004, the same day close pal Eric Medlen won in Funny Car. (Less than three years later, Lucas would be a pallbearer for Medlen, and this past week marked what would have been Medlen's 41st birthday.) Moreover, this is a race that carries title sponsorship of his family business, the one he stepped away from fulltime racing to learn.

Doug Kalitta had been partial to Brainerd because of his 2003 and 2005 victories and his 2000 runner-up finish here. And he was on the verge of claiming his fourth No. 1 start here Saturday, when Antron Brown – his closest challenger for the points lead - ambushed him by two-thousandths of a second in the last qualifying session. Besides, team owner and uncle Connie Kalitta, as well as Connie's son and Doug's cousin Scott, always had performed well here.        

Both Lucas and Kalitta had won here two times. But the similarities pretty much ended there.

Lucas is working 9-to-5 with his dad, Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas; Kalitta is trying to pass "Big Daddy" Don Garlits on the all-time Top Fuel victories list with his 36th. Lucas is making only a few appearances as rookie Richie Crampton's teammate to pay tribute to sponsor GEICO; Kalitta is galloping toward his first series championship with perhaps his best chance ever. What Lucas said he doesn’t miss on a regular basis is what fuels airline-owner Kalitta's competitive passion.

So there they sat at the starting line, and despite their approaches to the sport these days, both wanted to win. Well, one wanted to win. The other sort of needed to.

Lucas got his way. In an ugly but effective tire-smoking pedalfest, he won with a 4.886-second, 229.55-mph effort on the 1,000-foot course in the GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster.

Kalitta countered in the Mac Tools Dragster with an equally messy 4.987, 256.16.

For Lucas, it was his 10th overall Top Fuel victory and his third here in six years. He won the Wally statue from Brainerd in 2009 and 2012. And it capped a day in which he eliminated Countdown hopeful Bob Vandergriff and Steve Torrence before knocking off No. 1 qualifier Antron Brown in the semifinals with his career-best 3.729-second E.T. That extended to 21 the number of consecutive races in which the top qualifier has failed to win. It also continued Lucas' flair for performing well at races marred by rain.

This one finished in the dank twilight, and Lucas said that was "kind of cool." Even an engine explosion at the finish line didn’t upset him or his dad.

As soon as he got out of the car, he told his father, "I just blew up a lot of your stuff."

"I know," said Forrest Lucas, "but I'm still smiling about it."

And Morgan Lucas' mother, Charlotte, was his trophy girl once again, punctuating the family experience.

So it was family hugs rather than family mosh-pit mayhem at the end of this final, and Morgan Lucas thanked everyone at the family business who made possible his chance to "still get my fix and get to hang out with my buddies and do what I love to do. I'm really blessed to have the team that we do."

He affectionately called his own band of buddies a "Bad News Bears" group and credited crew chief Aaron Brooks for his double duty at races such as this one and Crampton for his clutch assistance along the way.

Said Lucas, "This is what I was hoping it'd be like: to come out and win, lose, or draw have a good time. Then when you go rounds, it's just that added value to it."

Spoken like a businessman, that was.

"This is fun. This is real special. This might be the most special win because you’re not getting 100 to 200 cracks at it during the year," Lucas said. "This was our 22nd pass this season and it’s just a really cool feeling."

For Kalitta, it was a disappointing end to a roller-coaster day in which rain toyed with proceedings.

But Kalitta lowered the track elapsed-time record by five-hundredths of a second (at 3.722 seconds) in his Round 2 victory over Spencer Massey. That tied the sixth quickest run in NHRA history. After that, Kalitta advanced to his ninth final round of the season by beating Tony Schumacher on a holeshot for a three-foot victory margin (.0053 seconds). But he missed his opportunity to record his first set of back-to-back triumphs since June 11, 2006. On the flip side, he retained his points lead heading into the final "regular-season" race, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.

He's 92 points ahead of Brown.

Lucas is entered to race at the U.S. Nationals that begins later this month and runs through Labor Day. While he, like Kalitta, will be going for back-to-back victories, the pressure won’t be on him like it will on Kalitta and his other Countdown-minded competitors.

"Life is good right now," Lucas said, mentioning the opportunities his parents have given him with Lucas Oil leadership. "I get to watch my son (Hunter, who's zooming in on his first birthday in December) grow up. I'm really a fortunate person."

He certainly was Sunday at Brainerd.- Susan Wade

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK – RANDOM NOTES FROM A LONG RAINY DAY

NOT A GREAT START – Early morning rain showers pushed Sunday’s start back by 30 minutes.  As if the rain wasn’t enough of an inconvenience, a full hour of oildown clean-up downtime consumed the opening round of Top Fuel. Then, after the first pair of Funny Cars ran, another two-hour rain delay ensued, but upon the restart, NHRA was able to finish the first round of Funny Car [except for the opening pair], a round of Pro Stock and another round of Top Fuel dragster. In all, the first round took four hours to complete.

Because the delayed pair of Robert Hight and Bob Tasca III ran at the conclusion of Pro Stock, instead of Funny Car falling behind the second round of Top Fuel, the Top Alcohol cars ran and then the rains fell again, promting yet another delay.

NHRA was able to get in the second round of Funny Car and Pro Stock as well as advance Top Fuel to the finals. A Top Dragster two-car accident late on Sunday created another delay.  

The culmination of a steady mist and a Top Fuel final-round oildown pushed the completion of Funny Car and Pro Stock to Indianapolis in two weeks.

SCARY MOMENT - Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series racers Monte Green, Haxtun, Colo., and Don Kritzky, Cottage Grove, Minn., were involved in separate racing incidents during a side-by-side race in Top Dragster eliminations. Green’s car went out of control and crashed near the finish line. Green was treated and released at the scene.

Kritzky’s dragster also went out of control and crashed near the finish line. Kritzky was alert and conscious following the incident and was airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn., for further evaluation.

HOLY COW! - Imagine running 3.758 with .023 seconds in the bank off of the starting line and losing. If you need a testimony, Spencer Massey will reluctantly provide one. Doug Kalitta caught the defending event champion in the lights with a 3.722 elapsed time. How strong was Kalitta's run? He was 2.984 seconds to the eighth-mile.

THREE-PLAY - Alexis DeJoria stepped up with the first sub-four second run of the weekend, the 29th overall and the second of her career. Ironically, her run swiped low elapsed time from the driver she beat, Matt Hagan.
 
NO RUST HERE - Morgan Lucas is engaging in a bit of false advertising. He entered the weekend as a part-time racer but has appeared any way but like one. In reaching the finals, Lucas laid down a career-best 3.729 elapsed time in taking out Antron Brown.

The run almost didn't happen for Lucas, whose dragster received a new engine prior to the round. The warm-up presented a challenge as the car fired with low oil pressure. The Lucas team went through the engine and did a close inspection but couldn't find the culprit. They went to the starting line with an engine measuring less than normal oil pressure and still reeled off the incredible pass.
 
WORKING THE TEAM ANGLE – When you race a part-time schedule, races aren’t supposed to have the same effect as if you were a full touring pro. Morgan Lucas in seeking to help teammate and full-time replacement Richie Crampton beat Bob Vandergriff Jr. and enabled Crampton to clinch a spot in the Countdown.

"That's a big goal realized right there," Crampton said. "At the start of the season we sat down and talked about things we wanted to accomplish in the regular season, and the top thing was to qualify for the Countdown. It's huge for GEICO, Lucas Oil, and Toyota, and it's especially big for the guys on this team that work so hard for us.

"It's nice to clinch a spot with another regular-season race left to run because we have a chance to really reset and prepare for the Countdown. Once it starts, we have four races in four consecutive weekends, and we want to be in top form for that run."

JR Todd, ranked tenth leaving the event, has a six-round lead on Vandergriff headed into Indy.

CLARIFICATION – In an obscure rule change at the beginning of the season NHRA lowered the minimum race requirement to 15 events to qualify for the Traxxas Shootouts. The ruling is good news for JR Todd, who won the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals to become the eighth different winner this season.  The first seven teams automatically gain a berth into the eight-car field.

Todd assumed the driving chores on the Optima batteries-sponsored dragster during the fourth race of the season in Las Vegas when David Grubnic  was dismissed by Kalitta Racing.

THAT’S FLYING - While the first few Funny Cars in the opening Funny Car round struggled to adapt to the vastly improved race conditions, Matt Hagan had no such issues behind the wheel of his Dickie Venables-tuned entry. Hagan ran a 4.018 to beat Chad Head and in doing so tied the Brainerd International Raceway track record.

NO. 10 IN FC HEATING UP AGAIN - Tim Wilkerson entered the weekend with a 30 point lead over Jack Beckman, and after the first day extended his mark with a two-point qualifying bonus and a five-point penalty against the 2012 series champion following an oildown.

Wilkerson lost to Tommy Johnson Jr.

"Horribly frustrating round one, and I was so mad at myself I could hardly see straight," Wilkerson said. "You just don't get conditions like that very often, where it's almost impossible to smoke the tires because the track is so tight, so you can throw everything but the kitchen sink at it and it will hook up. You just have to tune it up enough to make it get off the line without shaking, and I'm telling you I thought I had it tuned up like a rocket ship, but it still couldn't get out of its own way. Lousy ending to a lousy day."

With Wilkerson’s loss, Beckman whittled the lead to 17 points by beating Cruz Pedregon in the first round. Beckman’s teammate Ron Capps then beat him on a holeshot.  

And good for Wilkerson, the teammates didn’t race as he suggested the multi-cars should earlier this week.

"When it’s your teams, and you have four cars and you want to get them all in the playoffs why wouldn’t you try to stack the deck a little bit?" Wilkerson said in the CompetitionPlus.com article. "I would."
 
YOU AGAIN? – Jonathan Gray, locked in a battle with Greg Anderson for the tenth spot in Pro Stock, has faced the Summit driver's teammate Vincent Nobile, three times in the last six races in either the first or second round.

Nobile extended his dominance of 3-to-1 by winning the first round in a battle where both drivers fought a traction plagued surface, leaving Gray with a disqualification for crossing the center-line.

MORE SPRAY NEEDED - The incident drew the ire of family patriarch Johnny Gray, who had some choice words for the NHRA's approach to providing a quality race course for the Pro Stockers.

"We do this every time when the track is cold," Gray said. "We don't spray for Pro Stock down track. They do it every time. I don't know why they cannot get it through their heads. We're lucky Jonathan and Vincent didn't wreck their cars. That's not drag racing when you have to do that crap. As you can see, they are spraying the track so maybe it will be safe now."
 
The NHRA's policy has been to use a light VHT spray beyond the 1,000-foot nitro racing course because, especially in cooler conditions, the Goodyear tires begin to chunk rubber out leaving large gashes in the tires.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS - Sunday was a good day for low budget racer Deric Kramer as he reeled off an .007 reaction time and outran Greg Anderson to the finish line. Adding prestige to his win was the fact, Anderson ran a 6.574, which was low elapsed time of Pro Stock at the time.

“That’s pitiful,” Anderson said of the 6.64 to 6.57 loss. “I don’t know how I pulled that one off, but I obviously screwed up. I apologize to the Summit guys. I obviously had a great hot rod. That was on me. All I can do is pick my nose up and head to Indy.”
 
An ecstatic Kramer wasn’t going to argue with fate by adding, “I have been struggling the last couple of weeks with my driving. Double-oh light, you can’t complain about that. There’s not a lot of room for improvement there. I’ll take a win any way I can get it.”

RIVER FLOWS – In the land of 10,000 lakes, it was only appropriate a River got his first win. Despite a .000 reaction time from Erica Enders-Stevens, Rivers sped by to his first career NHRA Pro Stock victory. Transmission issues proved to be her undoing on race day.

"I let the clutch out, and it felt clean and nice," Enders-Stevens explained. "It went through low really well, pulled second gear and it shook, and didn't take second gear. I tried third, and it didn't take third. At that time, I looked to abort and he was already ahead of me. That was it."

The loss was not a total one for Elite Performance as River runs an engine leased from them.

River went on to record a second round victory over Dave Connolly, who encountered problems of his own.

SPORTSMAN RACING POSTPONED - When the rain started, race officials announced that the remaining rounds of Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas and Top Dragster would be run at the Division 5 event at Topeka next weekend.

WHAT A DELAY – As Robert Hight and Bob Tasca III rolled to the starting line in the first round, they were ordered by NHRA Chief Starter Mark Lyle to shut their cars off because of rain falling down track. Nearly forty minutes later they returned, and it was Tasca pulling off a major upset by knocking off the point leader.

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK

TOP FUEL

FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC - There's no time like the last minute. Antron Brown and his Matco Tools team took advantage of late afternoon cloud cover in central Minnesota to claim his 37th career No. 1 qualifying position on the final Top Fuel pass of the day.

Brown, who was the quickest of both sessions Saturday, covered the Brainerd International Raceway strip in 3.810 seconds at 318.77 mph to earn his third No. 1 qualifying position of the season and third at Brainerd International Raceway. It's his first Top Fuel pole at BIR after scoring two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (2001, 2004).

"That's what we were planning on," Brown said of his pole-winning effort. "We were pushing to run better. The first run of the day, the track was still hot so we knew we wouldn't be running for the No. 1 spot. But the cloud cover came in and everything looked good, so we pushed for it. We tried to get an .80 flat, a (3.)79, but it's so humid out there, and even though the cloud cover came around, it's tough to make power up here at Brainerd. The track is just tight and it kind of takes from your car.

"We looked at Tony and Langdon in front of us and thought they were about to run really good. But it's just tricky to get down, sometimes. My guys just did an incredible job, the whole Matco Tools, U.S. Army, Toyota boys did an incredible job. We'll take that No. 1."

Brown enters Sunday's final eliminations trailing point leader Doug Kalitta by 72 points or less than four rounds of racing

WHAT'S ANOTHER WEEK ON THE ROAD? - A 24-race tour can be a grueling stretch for even the most seasoned race teams when there are multiple back-to-back-to-back events. Antron Brown and his Matco Tools team make the process look so easy.

After completing a grueling three-race Western Swing, after one weekend off from four in a row, Brown and his team took advantage of the weekend off by racing again. The Matco Tools team participated in the popular Night Under Fire event in Norwalk, Ohio.

"Running four straight weekends didn't affect our team at all and we got to test some new pieces on our race car. Our guys had raced seven of the eight weekends before we went back to Norwalk, and they were as focused and worked as hard Saturday night like they were racing for Mello Yello points."

Brown recorded a 3.801-second run at 321.65 mph to beat John Force's Funny Car in a unique Top Fuel versus Funny Car match-up.

"What impressed me more than the great Norwalk show was the work done by our Matco team. Our guys were tired and wanted to be home that night but they worked a lot harder than I did signing autographs."

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEE! - When the final pair of cars blast down Brainerd International Raceway on Sunday, fans can start voting for their favorite driver for the third annual Traxxas Nitro Shootout in the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories, to be held at the NHRA U.S Nationals on Labor Day weekend. Brittany Force appears to be the odds-on favorite to win the lion's share of the fan votes.

Force reached the finals three times in 2014, with another three No. 1 qualifying efforts making her more than performance qualified for the position.

“I’m definitely excited just to be a part of the fan vote for the Traxxas Shootout, one of my goals was to get in the Traxxas Shootout before the fan vote by winning our first race as," said Force. "My guys have been doing an awesome job by getting us to three finals. That was a tough goal, and we didn’t make it, but we still have a shot to get in with our fan vote, and I’m really hoping to get that fan vote and be able to race in the Traxxas Shootout for Top Fuel."

The drivers expected to give a decent challenge to Ms. Force include Steve Torrence, Bob Vandergriff, Jr., Clay Millican and Terry McMillen.

An added clarification from the NHRA after our initial report, said JR Todd is eligible to participate in the fan-vote portion. The rule, which was once stipulated eligible contestants were limited to those who ran the entire series, was lowered to a 15-race minimum.

Todd, who was signed as the driver for the Optima Batteries dragster during the NHRA Vegas-1 weekend, won the Mopar Mile High Nationals, but the seven-race win qualifiers allotment became complete with Shawn Langdon's Bristol victory.

NOT A BANNER DAY - Tony Schumacher, who laid down the sixth-fastest run of 3.836 seconds at 332.43 mph during Friday’s second of two qualifying sessions, encountered issues during both his third- and fourth-round runs in his U.S. Army Dragster for DSR today. He smoked the tires three-quarters of the way down in Q3 then got crossed up at the starting line in the late-afternoon session before crossing the finish line at 3.914 seconds at 309.98 mph.

Schumacher will meet No. 11 qualifier Leah Pritchett in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations.

THE SILVER LINING? - A source of frustration for Steve Torrence is while he has earned qualifying bonus points in more events than anyone else in the category, has started from the No. 1 position and has been both quickest and fasted during eliminations, he has yet to race in a single final round. A final-round appearance on Sunday can virtually assure Torrence of a spot in the Countdown to the Championship. He remains the only driver in the current Top 10 who has NOT reached a final round and is one of only two who hasn’t won. The four drivers immediately ahead of him in the points all have multiple victories.

“It hasn’t been just one thing,” Torrence said. “We’ve just found a lot of ways to lose and a lot of it has been being in the wrong place at the wrong time against the wrong guy. But that’s part of racing. You just have to believe that it all evens out in the long run.”

Torrence enters Sunday’s eliminations as the No. 13 seeded entry with a 3.904. He races Richie Crampton in the first round.

WIN AND HE'S IN - Richie Crampton knows he can take the final step towards achieving the kind of success he dreamed of with a solid performance on Sunday. "Putting the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster into the playoffs will be a huge accomplishment for a team with a rookie driver," said Crampton, who served as a crewman under team owner Morgan Lucas for seven years before slipping behind the wheel of the 10,000 horsepower Top Fuel rail.

"Going rounds tomorrow could seal the deal, I believe, so this will definitely be the biggest race day of my career so far. "With this being Lucas Oil's biggest race and having Morgan here in the second car racing against one of the guys that's chasing us in the points, it seems everything is lined up perfectly. But we still need to go out there and execute."

Unofficially, Crampton will clinch his spot on the 10-car playoff grid if he simply out-performs Bob Vandergriff Sunday. Vandergriff faces Lucas in Round 1 and if he wins that race could square off against Crampton in the quarterfinals should Crampton advance past first-round foe Steve Torrence.

IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Morgan Lucas is charting new territory this season as a No. 2 driver on his team and operating in a supporting role. He races Bob Vandergriff Jr. in the first round and a win combined with a victory with his driver Crampton, will put the Geico team in the playoffs.

Lucas has learned quickly the differences of full-time and part-time driving can have on life in general.

"The full-time life consumes you," said Lucas. "This is obviously a lifestyle with your friends and family [on the tour]. When you're driving out here all the time you are always focused on driving, and when your next autograph session is scheduled or making sure everything is right.

"For me now, I pay more attention to the financial side of it. I keep an eye on what is going on with the business end of it. I focus and get my head right for driving when I am creeping up on that time. [Being off the full-time tour] allows me to keep my head on straight in other parts of my life whether it's being a father or a student of learning Lucas Oil products. It's been nice."

Lucas admits he’s not racing to come back to 100-percent following the tour.

"There's part of me that misses the full-time," admitted Lucas. "Basically, it's all I've known for the last ten years. At the end of the day, I really don't miss it. I'm getting to watch my kid grow up. I still get to come out and have fun, get to see my buddies from Brownsburg. I have the best of both worlds right now. I cannot say it's something I miss on a regular basis."

FINALLY ACTING RIGHT - Spencer Massey is behind the wheel of the quickest, most consistent dragster he's driven since earning consecutive NHRA Mello Yello Series wins this spring.

Massey qualified seventh with four qualifying laps between 3.838 and 3.875-seconds, earning five bonus points in qualifying.

"Our car is finally acting like the car it should have been the last six or seven races," a confident Massey said of the team's qualifying performance. "We won here last year and I don't know what it is about this track at Brainerd, but our car wants to run here.

"We were low of the session for Q1 and should have been for the Friday night run and were just a tick slower than Antron (Brown) in Q3. Our best lap was in the final session and that got us into the top half of the field and lane choice. We're going down the track in the heat and that's awesome. It's fun for me as a driver because the car is running fast, but it's also carrying the front end and it's awesome to be a driver in a great car like we have this weekend."

Massey, who doubled-up with DSR teammate Ron Capps for the nitro wins last August at Brainerd, qualified in the top half of the 16-car field for the eighth time this season. He will face off against No. 10 qualifier Khalid alBalooshi, another two-time Top Fuel winner this season.

SHE'S BACK!!!! - Leah Pritchett returned to the NHRA Mello Yell Drag Racing Series after taking off the Western Swing. She was No. 11 with a 3.872, and races Tony Schumacher first round.

MEETS FORCE FIRST ROUND - Larry Dixon ran a 3.842 to qualify eighth, and will race Brittany Force in the first round. Dixon is driving for Bob Vandergriff Racing.

FUNNY CAR

MORE BRAINERD SUCCESS - John Force thundered to his fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the season and 151st of his career in Funny Car after an afternoon rain shower cooled off the track and set the stage for a weekend-best performance of 4.060 at 315.27. He will face Bob Bode in the opening round.

“It cooled down and we knew everybody would step up,” said Force, who has advanced to the last four final rounds, winning twice. “We knew it was there. I told the TV camera I was going for No. 1. I have never said that in 30 years because it just don’t work that way. I have to start making a move now. I have to get this hot rod to where it will win and build the confidence in myself and all the kids around me. I laughed about it that I said it. It’s very simple, [crew chief] Jimmy Prock is on his game. That car makes big horsepower and he always swings for the fence.”

THE OLD FORCE TRY - Indy is Indy, and Brainerd is Brainerd, and John Force knows the difference. The only common ground is even the most seasoned veteran wants to win both.

“You try and get on a roll with your teams going into Indy," John explained. "You are trying to get things figured out on the Western Swing and the bottom line is you want to have your cars at the head of the pack. Brainerd helps build on that, because you get that mental motivation coming out of Brainerd with a good race, and that takes you right into Indy and the Countdown."

Force, who has won Brainerd 11 times and the last time in 2007, believes the track located in Minnesota demands a different mindset.

“People will race Brainerd different than they race Indy," Force admitted. "You race Brainerd to make the Countdown. At Indy, you are racing to win the biggest race of the year, the Traxxas Shootout and to make the Countdown. You run your race car in Brainerd just to win that race because it moves you up in the points. At Indy, it is a whole different approach. It is two different animals."

UP AND DOWN WORLD OF FUEL FUNNY CAR - Most recently, Courtney Force picked up her fifth career win at Sonoma Raceway and became the winningest female in the Funny Car category. She qualified No. 1 that weekend to make for her third No. 1 start of 2014.

“One weekend we are on top and winning and the next we're out in the first round, but that's racing," Courtney explained. "That's a great reminder for myself and my team that you have to keep your focus and work hard week after week, and I've got a great team that pushes hard every day."

Ms. Force is just nine points from third place, making the Funny Car division a JFR exercise in dominance. She concluded the weekend as No. 11 and will meet Alexis DeJoria in Sunday’s first round.

HE’S IN - Ron Capps heads into Sunday's eliminations with a playoff berth secured.

"Anytime you put your name on the board at the top end that shows you have clinched a spot in the Countdown, I don't care if it's No. 3 or No. 10, it's big," Capps said during qualifying for the 33rd annual Brainerd race. "This championship can be won from any of those 10 positions. We're in a position to be third and sometimes you look around and are so involved in what's going on, that you don't realize that you've had a pretty good season."

Capps, who has won the past two Brainerd titles and has four total at the central Minnesota track, had a solid run on Friday with a time of 4.162 seconds at 306.46 mph then returned Saturday to post the second quickest time in the day's opening session 4.168 (307.23). But after a nearly 80-minute rain delay, crew chief Rahn Tobler tuned Capps' Dodge to a lap of 4.064 at 314.17 to finish second in the 16-car order at Brainerd. It is the first time that Capps will start from the No. 2 spot this season.

"When we made the run on Friday night, it cooled off a bit and a lot of cars behind us stepped up, so the conditions we saw in the first run today with that 4.16 was one of the quickest runs and got us two points and that shows we're right there and should be good for race day," Capps said. "Then after the rain (Rahn) Tobler did it again. The NHRA Safety Safari did a great job prepping the track and we ran that 4.064 and just got nipped by my buddy (John) Force.

"It seems like for that fourth session that it always cools off and we see some cloud cover and BIR is as good as any track with cool temperatures and it will hold anything you throw at it. It really cooled off after the rain and we put on a great show for the fans. It doesn't matter where you qualify. Look at last year when we blew the body off during qualifying on Saturday and we came back and won the race on Sunday. Anything can happen."

GET IT ON - If there hadn’t been a rain-delay, the first round would have likely matched point rivals Tim Wilkerson and Jack Beckman. As it worked out, Wilkerson dropped to No. 13 while Beckman fell to tenth. Headed into Saturday they were the eighth and ninth qualifiers.  

Now they are on the opposite sides of the ladder with Wilkerson facing Beckman’s DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. while Beckman matches up with Cruz Pedregon.

"Not at all what we were after, but once I saw those two cars ahead of us run those 4.0s I kind of felt like we weren't where we wanted to be in terms of the tune-up," Wilkerson said. "We made whatever changes we could, and we ran our quickest lap of the weekend, but teams were out there hitting home runs and I guess we didn't take a big enough bat with us. We'll get after it tomorrow and see what we can do."

THAT'S MY STORY AND I'M STICKING TO IT - Jeff Arend admits he's out of the doghouse with team owner Jim Dunn. Last year in Brainerd, a visit to the famous Brainerd campgrounds resulted in a broken foot and a withdrawal from competition.

“Well, when they carried me in here in the morning.” said Arend. “I thought he’d (Jim Dunn) be a lot madder than he really was, but he wasn’t. He was actually pretty cool about it; he knows accidents happen.

“Then we happened to run 4.10 E.T. later that day and I drove with a broken foot which I didn’t even know was broken until that night.

“Jim has let me out of the dog house. He just told me that if I go back in the zoo and break the other foot, that’s he’s not coming to get me.”

Last year Arend crafted a tale of injuring the foot when he got locked in the parking lot. He's still sticking to the story.

“Hundreds of people have asked, because I'm usually good for a good story," admitted Arend. “Honestly it was probably the earliest I ever left, the least amount I ever drank, I was with my crew guys. We walked over the fence and my rental car was 50 feet away. We asked the security guard to open the gate and he says.” (I can’t open it, but you can hop over it if you want.) “I’ve hopped over that fence before and I just happened to land wrong.”

“For people who have never been to Brainerd, that 50-foot walk turns into about half-mile walk if you have to walk all the way around the front gate. In hindsight I would have crawled that half-mile to get to my car.”

Once a party animal, always a party animal, and Arend visited the zoo again on Friday.

“I went there (the zoo) last night, but I don’t think I’ll be going back tonight,” confirmed Arend.

HULK HAGAN ALMOST THERE - Matt Hagan will secure one of the ten coveted positions in the Countdown for the Championship by advancing to the second round of eliminations on Sunday at Brainerd.

Hagan qualified third after the rain delay.

"Dickie (Venables) and Knute (assistant crew chief Mike Knudsen) are doing a great job," Hagan said after the team's solid qualifying performance at Brainerd. "We're peaking at the right time and I just have a ton of confidence in my guys. I'm really excited for race day here in Brainerd and to keep that momentum going into Indy and the Countdown."

ALEXIS QUALIFIES STRONG - A strong qualifying effort such as the No. 6 ranked 4.082 effort from Alexis DeJoria usually ensures a somewhat easy first round. Not so in this case as she meets Courtney Force in the first round. CAN'T STOP BIG JIM - After missing the Western Swing to undergo colon cancer surgery, "Big" Jim Dunn returned in good spirits. He tuned Jeff Arend to a No. 15, 4.243 and races Ron Capps on Sunday.

 

PRO STOCK

PLAYOFFS HERE I COME FROM NO. 1 - Allen Johnson retained the No, 1 qualifying position after Saturday's two sessions. While he's racing for the weekend, he admits he's looking ahead.

“We’re in Countdown mode right now, and we’re trying to get every single point we can. That’s what’s going to count when you get to the Countdown,” he said.

Johnson snagged seven qualifying bonus points over the course of the weekend and topped the field on the strength of his 6.614-second elapsed time from Friday. By virtue of a 15-car field, he gets a first round bye.

STAB AND STEER FUTURE? - The Bob Vandergriff Racing puzzle is getting clearer. Confirming the CompetitionPlus.com report last week, a source close to the team tells us the new Pro Stock driver headed to Top Fuel will be Dave Connolly with an announcement reportedly in Indianapolis.

Bob Vandergriff would neither confirm nor deny the report.

LEAP-FROGGING - In Saturday's first session, Jason Line leapfrogged Erica Enders-Stevens and his teammate Greg Anderson to take the No. 2 starting spot. Enders-Stevens qualified No. 3 and Anderson No. 4.Four-time Brainerd winner Jeg Coughlin is fifth in the line-up. Dave Connolly, Shane Gray, and Vincent Nobile round out the top half of the eliminations ladder. 

STILL ON TRACK -  Naysayers might as well find something else. The two-race vacation for points leader Erica Enders-Stevens didn't prove adverse in the least. She concluded qualifying as third quickest with a swift 6.630 elapsed time at 207.69 mph.

"I'm so happy to be driving again," said Enders-Stevens, who last raced July 20 in Denver. "Thankfully, it's kind of like riding a bike where everything came right back to me the first pass down the strip. Obviously, the team picked up right where we left off as well. I'm a happy girl."

The points leader for the last 13 consecutive national events, Enders-Stevens skipped the last two races on the Mello Yello tour as her team prepares for the upcoming Countdown to the Championship. The NHRA's six-race version of playoffs begins mid- September in Charlotte.
 
"Any time you're out of the seat for an extended amount of time it's tough on you," Enders-Stevens said. "Seat time is priceless and it was hard staying home when everyone else was racing, but we had to be patient and see the bigger picture, which is the championship. It really does feel good to be back in the car, though, for sure."

"We had a huge lead but that's gone so we definitely have our work cut out for us," Enders-Stevens said. "We've had the dominant car all year but a couple of teams have started to catch up. The two Summit cars are right there, which always seems to be the case in the second half of the year, and my buddy Allen Johnson is just a round and a half back. Jeg (Coughlin) is right there also.

"Our focus is on the Countdown and we'd love to be No. 1 heading into that deal but if we're not, that's okay also because we'll be right there in the mix no matter what. The fight is going to take place among the same group of drivers and we need to be ready for it, no matter where we all start. I'm not worried about the start; I'm focused on the finish."

PLEADING THE FIFTH - Defending NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. believes he's perfectly placed to make a run at a fifth Brainerd Pro Stock title after qualifying fifth. He gained his spot with a 6.636 elapsed time at 207.91 mph.

"Two days in the books here in Brainerd International Raceway and we've found ourselves to have a very consistent racecar, which is always a good thing," Coughlin said. "The air wasn't as good today as it was Friday so we didn't see big improvements but we were working on fine-tuning things for game day tomorrow.

"I expect we'll pick up. We'll go over the data and zero in on a tune-up that should agree with the slightly cooler temperatures and better atmospheric conditions we're forecasted to have Sunday. We'll see if Mother Nature will take some of this thickness and moisture out of the air."

Coughlin won here in 1999, 2002, 2007 and 2010 so he already knows his way to BIR's winner's circle.

"We're looking for big things tomorrow," Coughlin said. "If we can get some round wins early and get into those later rounds then I think we could walk away with another trophy. That's certainly the game plan for us."

GOOD DIRECTION - V. Gaines ended Brainerd qualifying as No. 10 on the strength of a 6.669 elapsed time. The Kendal-sponsored driver credits practice time on the way to Brainerd as a contributor to their success.

"We made a trip to Michigan and did a little testing earlier in the week and I can tell you we like the direction our car is headed," Gaines said.
 
With only two races left before the Countdown to the Championship, Gaines is holding onto the No. 8 spot in points ahead of Chris McGaha and Greg Anderson.

"As we have seen in the past, once the Championship begins, anything is possible," Gaines added.  

ALL IN THE FAMILY - Jason Line isn't the only racer from the family competing in the Stock division this weekend. His father, Lawrence Line, won the K/SA class trophy driving his Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Stock Eliminator category. Additionally, the Line family has several entries this weekend in the sportsman ranks, including cars driven by Line's two brothers, Lance and Ben, and their mother Maxine. Although Lawrence advanced to earn the class trophy, the rest of the family bowed out earlier than hoped for in their respective races.
 
"I was a little disappointed in my brothers and my mother, but now I know how they feel on a weekly basis," Line said, jokingly. "But it was fun to come and see everybody. I had a chance to watch my dad and Lance run, but I didn't get a chance to see the rest of my family. It's always fun to come back here to Brainerd."

NO CLUTCH PLAY - Larry Morgan's Mustang was not a clutch player on Saturday. Despite a a 6.723 best and two runs within .009, he couldn't come close in Q4 because he missed the run.  

Morgan made a decent run in Q3 but quickly diagnosed the clutch issue following the session.

"It burned up the clutch in the water box on Q3," Morgan said. "We're not sure why, but we did the burnout and blew the clutch out. We put the chip up 300 rpms just to get it to leave, and when we got back to the pit after the run, the clutch was toast, which I knew would be the case based on how the car felt.

"It shouldn't have run as well as it did. We were thinking we'd run well and maybe it would have been better than the (6.723) but the slippage negated any chance of that. Either way, we've made progress, and we'll be okay."

The thrash to replace the clutch inevitably left them without a run.

"We put a new unit in, but we had trouble getting it installed," Morgan said. "We sure tried. We were banging stuff, throwing things around, but we didn't make it in time."

NHRA officials waited until the last possible moment, but Morgan couldn't make the call.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK

 

TOP FUEL

DOUG DOES NO. 1 - Top Fuel points leader Doug Kalitta earned the top spot with a 3.812 at 322.96 at the controls of his Mac Tools dragster. He is seeking his sixth No. 1 qualifying position of the season and fourth at Brainerd.

“It was cooling off and with the four cars behind us anything could’ve happened,” Kalitta said. “I was real happy with the run. It was nice and straight. On the first run it dropped a cylinder and smoked the tires so it wasn’t really going anywhere. My guys made the right changes and [crew chief] Jim [Oberhofer] is definitely on his game this year tuning this thing. I am real proud of him.”

Kalitta has two career wins in three final round appearances at Brainerd and is hoping to keep some recent momentum going at this event following his second victory of the season two weeks ago in Seattle.

“This is a great event for the Kalitta family,” said Kalitta, who won the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in 2005 and 2003. “We’ve had good luck up here over the years. It would be great to get a win on Sunday here.”

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL - Tony Schumacher understands just like Seattle, Brainerd has plenty of trees, which has a positive byproduct for racing - an abundance of oxygen. This is just one of the track traits the nine-time NHRA champion would just as soon not have imported into his mindset.

“If a track has nuances, they don’t tell me about them," said Schumacher. "I don’t want to know. Unless there’s a groove I have to drive around, I don’t want to know about any of that stuff. The crew does its job and I do mine. I always say the mind can hold seven things in it. That’s why phone numbers have seven digits. There’s a reason for that. The more you tell a driver to watch for and do, the more he’s going to make mistakes. I like to say I’m a machine. I want to get in the car and be exact and do the same thing every time. Throw another thing in there and say, ‘Watch for this,’ and the potential to make mistakes increases.

"I think my guys are really good about knowing that. Likewise, I don’t have to get out of the car and tell them what it did. I don’t have to. We have computers for that. I drive the car and do my best to keep it in the groove and go straight, leave on time, and do the same thing every time so they don’t have to worry about the driver. We’ve been doing it this way for a long, long time and it’s a proven approach that works.”

Schumacher finished the day with a run of 3.836 seconds at 323.43 mph to end up sixth quickest.

THE NEED TO CLINCH - Brittany Force entered the weekend as seventh ranked with three final rounds to her credit.  Force, who missed the playoffs last year, could make a push to clinch her berth this season.  A win would almost assure her of the spot.

“Everyone tells me that Brainerd is a race where someone happens to randomly win it," Brittany explained. "It’s never who you expect and it’s never who you think is going to go and win the race. Maybe it’ll be us, as the Castrol EDGE team is pumped up and motivated.”

PUT ME IN COACH - On Tuesday, Aug. 5, defending NHRA series champion Shawn Langdon was in St. Louis to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals.  What most fans might not realize, is he was an accomplished baseball player in high school and turned down a chance to play college baseball when he decided to pursue a Motorsports career.  Throwing out the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game has been a life-long dream for Langdon.

Langdon was second in Friday’s qualifying behind the wheel of his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with a 3.815 at 321.27. Rookie Richie Crampton was third in the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster with a 3.827 at 320.97 and Antron Brown sits fourth in his Matco Tools dragster, also posting a 3.827 with a 316.38.

FUNNY CAR

REBOUND WORKS - Robert Hight made up for a lackluster Q1 performance by blasting his way to the provisional No. 1 spot in the final Friday session with a 4.085 second elapsed time at 313.29 miles per hour pass. He was in the first pair of cars to run during the Q2 session.

"I didn't think there was a chance my number was going to hold up," admitted Hight, who has one No. 1 qualifier this season. "I would have bet the run would be top half, but I figured everyone would have stepped up since it was cooling down. That what you need to do that out here."

Hight said crew chief Mike Neff, prior to the momentous qualifying effort, had pulled up a graph from a 2008 run in Sonoma.

"It shows he has a great handle on this car," Hight pointed out. "He can make it do what he wants."

JUST ONE FOR SON-IN-LAW? - Robert Hight has collected 34 Funny car wins in his career, but none of them have been in Brainerd.

“John (Force) has dominated this race and we just want to get our first win in Minnesota,” said Hight.

This season appears to present the best opportunity as Hight has reached the finals six times and won four times.

“Brainerd is a great race because you can put the finishing touches on your tune-up and get ready for the final seven races of the season," Hight explained. "They are the most important races of the season and I think getting some traction in Brainerd could be the key. Even though we haven’t been to the winner’s circle in Brainerd we have always figured one or two things out."

Hight has led the Funny Car points for 13 races, the longest stretch in his career. He holds a 47-point lead over boss and father-in-law John Force.

As team president, Hight must look at the big picture.

“All three of our John Force Funny Cars are in the top four now. Any one of them could win this race," said Hight. "I just hope it is the Auto Club Mustang in the winner’s circle on Sunday. This has been a fun season so far for sure with the team winning ten times and having ten runner-up finishes. We want championships, so that is where our focus lies."

TWO AND THREE - Cruz Pedregon qualified second with a 4.093 at 308.21 in his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry and 11-time Brainerd winner John Force was third with a 4.099 at 311.77 in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang.

WHY NOT BOTH OF US? - Tim Wilkerson is not usually a scripted kind of guy. Wilkerson, who is 30 points up on Jack Beckman, didn't follow along with the one-on-one scripted verbal segment ESPN had planned for him and Beckman in Seattle.

Wilkerson believes both can be in the playoffs.

"I surprised [Jack] a little when I didn't play along with the 'me against him' story," Wilkerson said. "I said I thought we could both make the playoffs, and I still think that. We're both running pretty strong right now, and more importantly we're at least winning the first round, so we're heading into Brainerd with that sort of mindset, that the single most important round in any race is the first one.

"Both of us winning in the first round at Denver and Seattle is why we're still so close. Then, when Jack went out in the second round in Seattle we had a chance to make some hay, but Gary Densham beat me by an inch or so. We did get an extra round out of that, but not the way we wanted to get it."

Beckman was docked ten points by NHRA for oiling the track following a semifinal engine explosion.

ANOTHER TOUGH DAY FOR BECKMAN – Just days before the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, 2012 NHRA champion Jack Beckman lost his crew chief, fired by team owner Don Schumacher. Two weeks ago, Beckman’s day in Seattle ended when he grenaded the engine in his Valvoline Funny Car, shedding the body and putting oil on the track. Beckman was docked ten points.

In today’s first session, Beckman put oil on the track again, which cost him another five points. Wilkerson added to Beckman’s misery by adding two points for qualifying second quickest in Q2.

BUSY IS BUSY - Chad Head has been busy but not in chasing the 24-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing tour. The second-generation drag racer has been working harder than ever for his family’s construction business during their brief time away from the track and is now even more eager to get back behind the steering wheel.

The break has been good for his team. The return to racing provides a getaway from the grind of his day job.

“We’ve got a lot accomplished sitting out the Western Swing for both our company and our race team,” said the 40-year old businessman.  “Everyone is now refreshed, relaxed and ready to win at Brainerd.  We’re not in the points chase, so we can go out and charge hard in building consistency on our level and hopefully will surprise a few people that its business as usual at Head Racing.”

In the team’s last outing in Norwalk, Ohio, Head qualified No. 7 with a 4.05 elapsed time before advancing to the quarterfinals.

“We’re running well and working to get better,” said Head.  “We’re going in the right direction with the six-disc clutch system and it’s showing with the performance numbers on the track.  Dad (crew chief, Jim Head), has now had the time to tinker and look over all the parts and pieces of our clutch system. I think with his great ideas, we’ll be running up front."  

TOUGH DAY - Past Brainerd winner Bob Bode had a rough opening day in the office.

In the first session, he rolled up to start for the first session and was rolled away without firing. The second session resulted in an engine-wounding 4.39 which rolled the trucks and left him outside the top twelve.

“We were ready to start it up. We put the fuel into it and as I pulled the fuel lever it was sticky," explained Bode. "So I yanked on it and I’m not a very strong guy, but I yanked the cable right out of the cable holder, so it wouldn’t turn the fuel pump on. We could have turned it on by hand, but I would have not been able to shut it off at the finish line, so we thought smarter.”

"It’s a pretty easy fix, about $12 worth of parts and were back in business. We just feel stupid, we should’ve caught it before it happened, but it warmed up fine. Then you get up there (the starting line) and it just decides to break when you’re up there."

A TALE OF TWO SHELBYS - Independent fuel racer Brian Stewart missed Friday's cut with a 4.369, 273.50, while Bob Tasca III [below] was solidly in with a 4.151, 305.70

PRO STOCK

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME - Allen Johnson heads into Saturday on the cusp of knocking out his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season. Interestingly, the storied veteran has never qualified on top at this facility.

The Mopar-sponsored Johnson covered the Brainerd quarter-mile in 6.614 seconds at 208.04 miles per hour.

"We always know on the first run that the track is a little green down at the finish line," said Johnson. "Nothing really ever runs on this track but slower cars and us [NHRA professional] teams. We always set the car up soft just to go from one end to the other. The first run is always a learning run. "

Johnson couldn't say with a degree of certainty whether his run would hold through Saturday's remaining sessions. He believes it will depend on how cool the conditions are for Q3.

"The first Saturday run could be the best one we've seen if it gets cooler," Johnson responded. "It will be close."

GUESS WHO'S BACK? - This weekend marks the first event back for point leader Erica Enders-Stevens, who took off two races with her team to regroup in preparation for a run at the 2014 title. She left the Denver event as the point leader and returned Friday holding a lesser lead.

"Everyone worked really hard during the two weeks we weren't racing," Enders-Stevens said. "We should be better than ever, and we're excited to get back at it. The guys have been working really hard in the engine shop."  

Enders-Stevens earned a lofty lead largely due in part to a season where she has earned four victories in five final-round appearances, with two more semifinals and two No. 1 qualifiers. She has not lost in the first round all season and has qualified third or better 13 times.

"We looked at the math leading up to Denver to see if it would be feasible to miss those two events," Enders-Stevens said. "It worked out to where we still kept our lead, even though it's a small lead. But it doesn't matter if you have a one million-point lead or a one-point lead when you leave Indy; it all goes back to zero.

Enders-Stevens has one victory at Brainerd, in 2012. She also reached the final here in 2011 and currently holds the track record of 6.542 seconds, set in 2012.

Enders-Stevens briefly held the top spot on Friday with a 6.630 during the Q2 session.

GUESS WHO’S COMING BACK – Johnny Gray confirmed with ESPN on Friday he will be returning to Pro Stock later this year. Unannounced plans suggest his return will likely be at the race team’s hometown track of zMax Dragway for the Carolinas Nationals.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME - Greg Anderson grew up in nearby Duluth, Minnesota. And for the transplanted North Carolinian, if he ever needed a hometown advantage it is this weekend. The Summit-sponsored driver has fought his way into the Pro Stock top ten after missing the first five races of the season while recovering from heart surgery.

"This is it," said Anderson. "We have two races to go before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs start, and I absolutely have to win. I have to. I may be able to keep my position in the top 10 without a win, but that's not how I want to do this. I need to win for my own peace of mind and for the Summit Racing team. They deserve it. They've worked very hard to help me get to where I need to be, and I want to put the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the winner's circle this weekend. Period."

Last season Anderson completed this event as the No. 2 qualifier and reached the semis. The four-time Pro Stock world accumulated three wins in six final rounds at his BIR, with wins in 2003, 2009, and 2011.

However, Anderson is winless since June 2012.  

"There is no more time to come up short," said Anderson. "I have two races to get it done, this weekend at Brainerd and then at the U.S. Nationals two weeks later in Indianapolis. I'd like to get it done this week because that is just such a special track for us. It's where it all started, and to win with so many people right there supporting you and cheering for you, well you just couldn't ask for much more. The goal is always to put a Summit Racing Camaro in the winner's circle, but this weekend it's more important than ever. All of my focus is on getting it done."

Anderson slipped into the third position, gaining a bonus point in the Q2 session.

TIME TO MAKE HISTORY - Anderson's teammate Jason Line has a nice winning streak going on at three in a row. This weekend he'd like to make it four but not for the sake of extending the streak. For once, the Minnesotan would love to win once at the closest track to where he grew up.

"I've never won three in a row before," said Line. "If things go as planned, this will be a weekend of firsts for me."
 
Line has 34 national event victories and none at BIR, at least as a professional. As a sportsman racer, he brought home Brainerd trophies in Stock Eliminator in 1992 and 1997, and since launching his Pro Stock career in 2003 he has visited the final round here twice (2006 and 2009). Notably, the 1992 Stock victory was his first win at a national event.
 
"I haven't hidden my thoughts on wanting to win this race," admitted Line. "It's very high on my list of things to do, and this is probably the best chance I've ever had to win."

Line held the No. 1 spot after the first session but fell to fourth with a 6.633 best.

NO TIME LIKE THE FIRST - This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of Dave Connolly's first Pro Stock win. The former sportsman standout stepped up with a victory at the expense of Greg Anderson.

"That was a huge win. It was a milestone," said Dave, who won at BIR again in 2006 and was the Brainerd runner-up in 2008. "Greg was just kicking our butt in final rounds, week in and week out, and it was a great feeling to finally get him there and break through. From that point on, Brainerd just became one of those tracks for us. We've had a lot of success up there, and we always like coming back.

TIE-BREAKER – When team owner Johnny Gray of Gray Motorsports released Tommy Utt, he revealed part of his reasoning was to get all three cars on the same page. Connolly and Shane Gray were clearly like-minded as both ran 6.645 second elapsed times with Gray’s 207.82 winning the tiebreaker. Third team driver Jonathan Gray was ninth with a 6.666 at 207.75 miles per hour.

WIN FOR THEM - Larry Morgan understands he's racing a 24-race schedule largely because of the investment from this weekend's race sponsors Lucas Oil.

"If I never win another race in my career, I'd like to win this one, just for them," Morgan said. "I've done well up there before, but I'd like to win for Forrest and Charlotte. It'd be nice to win their race."

Morgan has raced to the final round in Brainerd twice in his long Pro Stock career, in 1990 and 1993. Both of those were before his association with Lucas, which started in 2007.

"He and I had been talking for a long time," Morgan said. "He said he wanted to help me, and we just put a deal together."

Lucas Oil has been on Morgan's cars ever since, and Morgan values their relationship just as much as he did when it started.

"They're just great people," Morgan said. "The sport couldn't survive without Lucas Oil. They're so good for the sanctioning body and all motorsports. They're wonderful people.

"I appreciate what he does for me. He's a good guy, and they're good people. I've never met anybody any better."

Morgan anchored the first day top 12 with a 6.723.

SPORTSMAN

LEADERS - Joey Severance [TAD, 5.294], Annie Whiteley [TAFC, 5.612], Shaun Vincent [Comp, -.559] and Phil Unroh [TD, 6.361] head into Saturday's competition as the leaders in their respective classes.

THIS ISN'T INDY - Dan Zrust brought out his SS/AH Cuda for some competition prior to the Big Go. He was 35th quickest with a -0.248, 9.053 performance.