Pomona, California (February 16, 2016) - Morgan Lucas had a pretty busy day at the 56th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals, but when the dust settled he had successfully managed to qualify his Lucas Oil Racing TV dragster in the Top Fuel field and give Hollywood legend Jane Seymour a "Baptism by Nitro."

"We had a pretty special first-timer with us today with Jane Seymour, and we were honored to show her a little slice of what we do," Lucas said. "Jane is working on a movie project with my father (Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas) and the extremely talented group at ESX, and Dad had invited them all out to the races. I think they had a great time and I know Jane was still buzzing about being on the starting line a good hour after we ran.

"It's neat to see the various fingers of the Lucas Oil company coming together and just having a fun day. Of course, I get to have the most fun because I'm driving the car, but I think Jane will be smiling for awhile herself."

Standing next to Lucas' 10,000-horsepower dragster when it launched to a 3.757-second pass at 326.40 mph is something Seymour will never forget.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event, isn't it?" Seymour said. "Just waiting for the Lucas dragster to run I was stunned by the other cars as they took off. The sights and smells and earth-thundering power is really something I never experienced before. I jumped 10 feet off the ground when Morgan stepped on the gas. These drivers are quite brave."

Lucas' pass placed him ninth in the Top Fuel field and set up a first-round date with Dave Connolly, who qualified one spot ahead of Lucas with an eighth-best 3.759 at 324.20 mph.

"What a difference a year makes," Lucas said. "This car and the tune-up are miles better and we really feel like we have a car we can race tomorrow. Of course, we would have liked to have run better and be a little higher on the grid, but as we saw many, many times last year, anyone can win from any spot.

"If we have our stuff together tomorrow, we'll be able to run with anyone. We certainly have a good test right out of the gate and I'd assume we'll be the first pair down the track, so we'll know very quickly what kind of day we're going to have. I'm excited."

Race day eliminations will air live from 2-5 p.m. PT, on FOX Sports 1.