Baytown: David Baca Saturday summary

David Baca Meets Morgan Lucas in Spring Nationals Opening Round

David Baca and co-tuner Larry Meyer sat in front of the Baca Motorsports' computer screen late Saturday afternoon, looking at graphs and discussing what tune-up changes they need to make to the team's Top Fuel dragster before O'Reilly Spring Nationals eliminations begin Sunday morning.

"This is a like a juggling act, like walking a tightrope . . ." said Baca. "We're deciding how much we can get away with in our tune-up. We're trying to come up with the best one that doesn't spin the tires. It is a challenge."

What Baca described as a "tricky Houston Raceway Park racing surface," is causing all the consternation. Baca's dragster did get down the track in two of the four qualifying sessions. The best, 4.581 seconds at 312.13 mph, put him 13th in Sunday's starting lineup and up against rookie driver Morgan Lucas, who was sixth, 4.540 at 325.30 mph. Lucas is second in POWERade Series points.

"Tuning the car is so complex," added Baca. That's why David's dad Dennis serves the co-tuner.

All three men were going over the possibilities, making battle plans for Sunday morning.

"We'll be ready to go for the first round," said David Baca. "We're here to spoil the number two points guy's day."

-bm-