Despite solid run, Morgan comes up short in Atlanta eliminations

ATLANTA, GA – After an extensive rain delay Sunday postponed the completion of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals until Monday morning, Lucas Oil/MAVTV Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan was more than ready to pull out an upset on a green Atlanta Dragway.

Morgan’s Mustang was paired up against Jason Line’s Camaro in the first round of eliminations, and even though Morgan put up a great reaction time of .014-second, it wasn’t quite enough for Line’s .008. The Lucas Oil/MAVTV driver barely got edged out at the finish line after running a 6.586 at 210.21 mph, his second-fastest run of the weekend.

“The good thing that happened for me in the first round was the fact I let the clutch out on time,” Morgan said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t early enough. It sure was close though, and that’s all I could ask for after the kind of weekend I had.

“Even with the quick reaction time, I shifted too quickly into second gear and I killed it. I honestly probably could have ran a .55 or .56 in the first round but I got ahead of myself.”

Aside from Morgan shifting too early, a few prerace changes may have also hindered his run in eliminations.

“While we were in the staging lanes I took a bunch of timing equipment out of the car,” Morgan said. “I was scared that the car was going to get real loose downtrack and I would burn the motor up. That was my fault. I was just trying to keep from ruining a motor when we have Topeka to go to next weekend.”

Morgan will regroup and move on to a track where he has enjoyed a lot of success when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues at the NHRA Kansas Nationals, May 23-25, at Heartland Park Topeka.