Pomona, California (February 10, 2016) - Morgan Lucas will kick off his 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season this weekend at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The veteran Top Fuel driver will again compete on a part-time basis this season, driving the Lucas Oil Racing TV dragster for his Morgan Lucas Racing team this weekend.
Pomona is a special place to Lucas, and not just because he's a two-time winner here. Lucas Oil Products is headquartered in nearby Corona, Calif., meaning a lot of friends and family will be in attendance. Plus, Pomona is the birthplace of professional drag racing, and NHRA is located in nearby in Glendora, Calif.
"It's always fun to win one of the bookend races," Lucas said. "Pomona has a lot of heritage. It's right down the street from Glendora, and it sounds cliché but it's the truth: So much of the history of the sport of drag racing is built right into that racetrack. Hopefully, we can continue to make our own mark on the history books."
Lucas would love to make MLR history by racing teammate Richie Crampton in the final round, but he knows there are plenty of other teams capable of preventing that. Lucas beat then-teammate Shawn Langdon in the 2011 season-opener in Pomona, a first for MLR.
"In a perfect world, Richie would win and we'd runner-up, but a lot of work has to be done in between here and there," Lucas said. "We'll see what happens. Racing Richie in the final round is always going to be the best-case scenario, but you can never count on that. We've only had that happen once in the history of our team.
"If both cars win first round, you're usually happy, but you always want more, you always want to be the best. Even if it is your teammate, you want to kick his butt on the starting line, that's for sure. Then afterward, you hug him."
Pomona is one of seven races in which Lucas plans to race this season. He'll also compete in Gainesville, Fla.; Sonoma, Calif.; Brainerd, Minn.; Indianapolis; the second Las Vegas race; and at the season-finale in Pomona.
"This year, we're going to try to take it a little more seriously," Lucas said. "We went testing with the car and tried to get some things ironed out before we start the season, that way we're a better benefit to Richie and the full-time team. We learned a lot, and it's going to give us good stuff to be competitive at the season-opener.
"My excitement level is the same as it's been the last couple of years. I like to be consistent. I'm not a big fan of dramatic change if I don't have to have it. These little 'micro seasons' are fun. They're exciting and it makes you appreciate getting to drive the car that much more."
Top Fuel qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and eliminations will begin at 11 a.m., Sunday. Qualifying action will be broadcast at 10:30 p.m. ET, Friday, and 1 a.m., Sunday, on FOX Sports 1, with eliminations broadcast live at 5 p.m., Sunday.
