FireAde racer Morgan comes up inches short in Phoenix

PHOENIX, AZ – Trying to keep his consistency throughout the weekend alive, a spark of hope in the first round was extinguished prematurely for FireAde Chevrolet Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

“I could tell right away,” Morgan said. “When it started to tremble in low gear, I knew I was in trouble. We didn’t have enough clutch to move the car. When it does that, you can’t seem to do anything right and the clutch gets hot. It is what it is though, and we’ll look forward to the next race in Gainesville (Fla.).”

Facing off against No. 9 Greg Anderson in the first round of eliminations, Morgan put down a solid 6.599-second pass at 211.20 mph, compared to Anderson’s 6.606 at 210.64 mph. Unfortunately, Anderson’s .033 reaction time beat Morgan’s .042, giving Anderson the holeshot win and ending Morgan’s day early by .002-second.

“Last year it was car lengths between us and the other guy; now it’s just by a little bit,” Morgan said. “If I can control that clutch more, I’ll be alright. We have enough power this year to go rounds, so there’s no excuse. I just hate that we have everything going our way and didn’t get the result we should.

“All we had to run was one of our 6.330s that we were running all weekend and we would have won that round, or even a .002-better light, but would of, could of, should have. It’s the name of the game out here.”

Despite the unfortunate early exit in Phoenix, Morgan is still optimistic about where the future of his season is headed.

“We’re just excited for this deal and getting FireAde out here. Being hooked with the Grays is a wonderful thing. We’re trying to get all this stuff together and do the best we can do. It was a good race; it was a good race for both of us.”

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series action will continue at the NHRA Gatornationals, March 12-15, at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville.