Larry Morgan qualifies 11th for NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Larry Morgan qualified his FireAde Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the 11th position for Sunday’s eliminations at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Morgan delivered four solid, consistent qualifying passes as the temperature climbed above previous forecasts. His best pass, 6.611 seconds at 209.17 mph, came during the second round on Friday as the session ran late and the sun set.

Although the car has been consistent all weekend, Morgan believes they may have left a little on the table.

“I think we made enough changes to try to move forward and run better, but we’re not running like we should,” Morgan said. “We haven’t really caught fire like we should. But I think, for the most part, we did make four good runs. The runs were close — real close. Tomorrow we’ll just have to get after it and try to win the race. That’s all we can do.”

With Saturday dawning sunny and hot, running better than Friday night’s pass of 6.611 seconds would be a challenge.

“I don’t think the heat beat us or hurt us,” Morgan said. “We ran a set of tires that were probably too old and we got caught in that deal. Hopefully we’ll win the first round and keep moving up, winning rounds.”

Morgan will face Chris McGaha in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations on Sunday morning. Sunday’s forecast calls for more of the same: 83 and sunny.

Morgan arrived in Las Vegas in sixth place in Mello Yello Drag Racing Series championship points. With only the Las Vegas eliminations and the Pomona, Calif., finale yet to be contested, positions two through seven are up for grabs and are separated by less than 110 points.

“I’d like to finish at least in the top five in points,” Morgan said. “And if we have some good runs, I think we could end the season in second place behind Erica Enders.”

Eliminations are scheduled to begin at noon on Sunday and will be televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET.