Memphis: Morgan Lucas Saturday summary

DESPITE HOT, HUMID CONDITIONS, LUCAS QUALIFIES NO. 9 MEMPHIS (Aug. 19) -- Despite the oppressive, muggy conditions with heat indexes around the 104-degree range, drag racing standout, Morgan Lucas overcame the heat and qualified his Lucas Oil ...

DESPITE HOT, HUMID CONDITIONS, LUCAS QUALIFIES NO. 9

MEMPHIS (Aug. 19) -- Despite the oppressive, muggy conditions with heat indexes around the 104-degree range, drag racing standout, Morgan Lucas overcame the heat and qualified his Lucas Oil Products dragster in the No. 9 position for the 19th annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

As he enters Sunday's eliminations, Lucas will race J.R. Todd in his first round match up and for the first time ever. He posted an elapsed time of 4.676 seconds, 308.57 mph on Saturday in the final session.

"On Saturday, during that session it was overcast and maybe tomorrow will be like that, who knows?" said Lucas who qualified in the No. 9 position for the sixth time out of 48 races. "It could turn out to be anybody's race. For J.R. and me, we're going to be the first pair on the track. We're buddies, but he's still going to try to drill the tree and likewise, I'm going to be doing the same. We'll determine who is the 'Magic Man and El Diablo' (referring to the character nicknames of Will Farrell (Ricky Bobby) and John C. Reilly (Cal Naughton, Jr.) from the movie "Talladega Nights") and it should be a good time.

"I'm happy with the last run.  We went down there and
stepped it up.  That will help us a little in the Big Bud Shootout
points.  Let's roll with it tomorrow."

Lucas' Funny Car teammate, Tony Bartone qualified his Jim Dunn-owned Lucas Oil Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the No. 12 spot with his qualifying run of 4.948 seconds, 300.66 mph and is racing Tony Pedregon in his first round of eliminations.