BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 14) - Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan knows there is more speed to be had in his Lucas Oil Ford after he qualified No. 14 for the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals on Saturday at Bristol Dragway.
Morgan had to start from scratch Saturday after his fastest run of the weekend was wiped out because he was not in the top 12 following Friday's two sessions.
Then in Q3 Saturday morning, Morgan shook the tires but stayed in the throttle to complete the 7.064-second pass at 202.76 mph.
That left him outside the top 16 heading into the final session, but he was able to make a run of 6.822 seconds at 205.22 mph to slip in to the show.
"We're happy to get in, yes," Morgan said. "We're happy for Lucas and Streamlight and all the people who support us. The good news is it was a horrible run; we only ran 2.91 to the 330, so we know there's more in it. It was good enough to get in."
But bad luck continues to plague Morgan and his four-man team, which includes son Nick and wife Diane. In addition to struggles with the engine in his Mustang, the data-gathering electronics remain troublesome.
"The bad news is we've been fighting gremlins with our computer since the Topeka [Kan.] event," Morgan said. "We have lost seven runs since then with no computer. We rewired the whole car, put another computer in the car, changed the card reader, and it's still acting up. The guy from RacePak practically sets up his camp in our pit area.
"One run it will work and the next it won't. It's hard to make a call on race day when you've got no data to go off."
Morgan will square off against Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders-Stevens in the first round Sunday; she qualified No. 3 with a pass of 6.631 seconds at 208.17 mph.
