Seattle: Larry Morgan final summary

KENT, Wash. (July 25, 2004) - Larry Morgan continues on an upward path in the Pro Stock class of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series with his Team Mopar Dodge Stratus, as he and crew chief Bob Glidden move forward on their development program under the Don Schumacher Racing banner.

Although Morgan was ousted in the second round today at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, he sees every lap on the quarter-mile as progress towards his goal of elevating his team's game to battle for the Pro Stock championship in 2005.

"We just got real loose out there," he said of his loss to Dave Connolly (6.754/204.85 for Connolly; 6.798/204.08 for Morgan) after eliminating Mark Pawuk in the first round. "I had a 200 hundredths (of a second) better light than he did; it just got real loose. That right lane wasn't very good.

"We just need a little break, if we're going to win this season," he said. "That's all we need. We're that close.

"We know we can run well," continued Morgan. "We've got to make a change with the chassis. There's a little problem we have there. We went and tested and ran fast the way it is and we left it there.

"But, for the most part, we're pretty lucky to have run as well as we did today, the way it was set up.

"We've got time. We'll be all right. We'll just continue to make strides now that we have the resources from Don Schumacher Racing to improve on our performance. It will take some time, and I'm just glad we got to where we did today.

Next up is the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., July 30-Aug. 1.