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2013 NHRA: Sticking With Gameplan A Top Priority For GEICO Driver Lucas
After a 2012 campaign where the GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster was impressive in spurts, driver/team owner Morgan Lucas has changed his team's outlook to one where the impressive performances can occur throughout the course of the entire season.
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Their first chance to test the new scheme came in Pomona, where the GEICO rail was one of only a handful of dragsters that never smoked its tires during the entire weekend. At this week's NHRA Arizona Nationals, Lucas said his crew is looking to build on that consistency and gently push the envelope to rack up some round wins on race day.
"We ran great in qualifying last week but we need to be just a tic better there," Lucas said. "Then we need to make sure we run equally well on Sunday, which we did in Pomona. What happened to us in Round 1, where we got beat despite running the third quickest elapsed time of the session, isn't going to happen a lot. Over time, the consistently quicker cars are the ones that do well.
"If we have the car we've got right now all year long, we're going to be a threat to win races and win the championship. We just have to be patient and stick with our gameplan."
Lucas said he always looks forward to racing at Firebird International Raceway and staying in the Phoenix area.
"Firebird is a challenging track," Lucas said. "It's not quite as nice as Pomona but there aren't many tracks that are. I've won some division races at Firebird during my career, so I have no problems with the place. Plus the fans are always really cool."
He said the track's characteristics should actually help the GEICO team stay on target.
"We've got to stay on this path and race smart," Lucas said. "We've did that in our first race of the year. It'll be nice to be able to turn on some win lights now and get ourselves in the Top 10 in the points."
Qualifying for the NHRA Arizona Nationals gets under way at 2 p.m. PST Friday from Firebird International Raceway with two sessions on tap. Qualifying continues on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with Sunday's eliminations under way at 11 a.m. ESPN2 will air the qualifying show at 1 a.m. EST on Sunday and the eliminations show at 8 p.m. Sunday.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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