Epping, New Hampshire (June 14, 2015) - NHRA Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan was ready, his FireAde Chevrolet was ready, his Larry Morgan Racing team was ready, and his Gray Motorsports engine was ready. They were all ready to win during the first round of the NHRA New England Nationals on Sunday, but New England Dragway wasn't ready.
Racing in a left lane that was clearly the slower of the two Sunday, Morgan and his FireAde Chevrolet got a little squirrely downtrack and dropped a close race to Allen Johnson.
And he was far from happy. Morgan and Johnson, as the No. 9 and No. 8 qualifiers, respectively, were the first Pro Stock drivers down the track in round one. As the higher-qualified driver, Johnson picked the preferred right lane and made a pass of 6.567 seconds at 213.30 mph that was nearly identical to his qualifying pass, but Morgan slowed by nearly three-hundredths with a 6.595-second pass at 213.00 mph.
"I'm not the happiest guy right now," Morgan said. "You go up there and you're the first pair out after the fuel cars, and they don't do a thing to the racetrack. I guess they don't care about us. Until someone gets thrown into the stands with one of these cars, nothing is going to change. I don't know why they didn't do anything."
NHRA usually does some track prep after the nitro cars make their runs but not this time.
"It's disappointing," Morgan said. "We had a good car, just like every week this year, but I got loose out there. The track is horrible. I didn't drive very good either, and I'm upset about that, too. It is what it is."
Morgan wasn't the only driver to lose from the left lane. Only Drew Skillman won from the left lane in the first round, and two drivers didn't make full runs.
"We'll go next week and try to kick their butts at Bristol," Morgan said. "That's all we can do. We'll be all right."
Morgan will be racing again next Friday-Sunday at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee.
