Sonoma: Morgan Lucas final summary

LUCAS SUFFERS TOUGH FIRST ROUND IN SONOMA

SONOMA, CA (July 30) -- As much as Morgan Lucas was ready to have his luck change in the 19th annual Fram/Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway, unfortunately for him it didn't happen marking his sixth consecutive first round loss.

Lucas, being the No.8 qualifier after running an elapsed time of 4.605 seconds, 304.87 mph raced No. 9 seed, Bob Vandergriff in their opening round match up. As the pair staged up under typical California beautiful blue skies, Lucas jumped first with .095-reaction time to Vandergriff's .137 and held the lead shortly, until Lucas overpowered the racetrack losing traction.

By the time Lucas settled the car down and regained his momentum, Vandergriff had skated the rest of the way down the quarter-mile to take the win light. Lucas' coasted to a time of 7.245 seconds, 112.30 mph to his opponent's time of 4.844 seconds, 296.11mph.

Lucas maintains his position of eighth in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel points standings accumulating 686 after the completion of 15 of 23 National events.

After taking a weekend off, Lucas and his crew will now head to the 'Land of 10,000 Lakes' for the Silver Anniversary edition of the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway on August 11 -- 13.

-lucas oil racing