EPPING, N.H. (June 17) - Lucas Oil Ford driver Larry Morgan hopes his team has turned the corner as it prepares for the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals this weekend at New England Dragway.
Last week at Bristol Dragway, Morgan made his best pass of the event during eliminations, shaking off a myriad of issues that plagued him and his team in previous races.
Now, Morgan has a good direction for his Pro Stock Mustang's tune-up and hopes to take advantage of the progress in Epping.
"I feel good about going into Epping," Morgan said. "We're going to go home and fix the engines that we hurt this weekend and be ready for them. We had some help in Bristol that made the car better, and now it's up to us to keep moving forward."
Getting data from each run in Pro Stock is crucial, but electrical gremlins at the three previous races hampered Morgan's ability to collect information. The team rewired the car for Bristol, and Morgan was able to better-tune the car.
"There are so many things happening, and it seems like it's all been happening to me lately," Morgan said. "We did get our computer running in Bristol, and that can only help us as we tune on the car."
The issues with the race car have not hampered Morgan's driving, as he left first on Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders-Stevens in the first round at Bristol.
"There's not an issue with me driving the car," Morgan said. "I think I'm OK driving the car. We just need things to not happen to us and we'll be just fine."
Morgan is also excited to race in Epping because of the throng of race fans who will be in attendance. Fans flocked to New England Dragway for the inaugural race in 2013, and Morgan was impressed with the way competitors were treated.
"I loved going there," Morgan said. "The fans are wonderful and the people who run the place were concerned about us. That doesn't happen very often.
"Those guys in Epping are in the same class as Bruton (Smith). They want to make everything good for the racers as well as the fans. I look forward to going back there."
Qualifying begins Friday with sessions at 4:15 and 6:45 p.m. Eastern. The final two qualifying sessions will take place at 12:15 and 2:45 p.m. Saturday. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday. ESPN2 will have one hour of qualifying coverage at 7 p.m., Saturday, and a two-hour eliminations show at 2 p.m., Sunday.
