Reading: Morgan Lucas Saturday summary

CONSISTENCY RULES IN READING FOR LUCAS OIL RACING

READING, Pa (Sept. 17) -- Morgan Lucas qualified his Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster in the fourth position with an excellent elapsed time of 4.542 seconds at a speed of 325.06 mph for Sunday's running of the 21st Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. It marked the fifth time in his young career that the Californian has ended up in that qualifying position out of only 27 NHRA National career starts.

For Sunday's first round of eliminations, Lucas will square off against veteran John Smith. In head-to-head match ups, Lucas leads 2-1 in their series with the last time the pair met in competition being the first round at the Gatornationals earlier this year.

"We're extremely happy to obtain four consistent runs," said Lucas, who totaled an impressive list of runs over the weekend with 4.563, 4.554 and 4.556 second passes in his four qualifying attempts. "To have a car go from a 4.54 to a 4.56 on four different qualifying runs is pretty impressive. 'It's really incredible, especially when you have different conditions to perform under. Sometimes you have the sun out, then its overcast and last night we raced in the dark.

"I'm really proud of our guys. Through all the changes of recent late, it just shows the passion of my Lucas Oil team. Jimmy (Dupuy, crew chief) and Scott (French, clutch specialist) are working away and it's kind of cool just feeling like we now have something to prove. We're out here trying to do the best we can. The team is doing a great job and we couldn't be happier about it. It's a step in the right direction and I'm looking forward going into eliminations on Sunday."

ESPN2 will air the final round of Sunday's Toyo Tires at 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 18.

-www.morganlucas.com