Red-light ends chances of Western Swing sweep for FireAde’s Larry Morgan

SONOMA, CA – A week after scoring a thrilling holeshot victory in Denver, FireAde Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan lost on a red-light in the first round of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Morgan left .017-second too soon in his race against Vincent Nobile, ending his Sunday at Sonoma Raceway too soon.

“I was up on the wheel,” Morgan said. “It wasn’t about who I was racing or anything like that. We have had some issues with the engine this weekend, and I just got behind the eight ball in qualifying. The car was missing and all kinds of stuff, and I just had a hard time with the way it felt.

“I did what I thought was good. I didn’t even know I red-lit until I put it in 3rd gear. I looked up and his win light was on.”

Morgan drove well in winning the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals last weekend at Bandimere Speedway. He and No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson staged an epic burndown in the final, each driver sitting in the pre-stage beam for more than 90 seconds before Johnson went in. Morgan left first and scored his second win of the year despite a higher elapsed time.

Sonoma, however, was another story, though Morgan wouldn’t change his approach on the starting line.

“I wouldn’t go up there and do anything different, “Morgan said. “Stuff happens, I guess.”

And to make matters a little worse, Morgan made a good run, 6.527 seconds at 211.76 mph, which was the fifth-quickest run of the first round.

“I made a good run and that surely makes you mad, but we did good,” Morgan said. “We ran good; fifth-quickest for that round. That was good, but it was just at the wrong time. I just made a mistake.”

That ended his chances of sweeping the three-race Western Swing, which concludes next weekend at Pacific Raceways in Seattle.

“I was the bug this week,” Morgan said, “but last week I was the windshield.”