Heavy-hearted Lucas wins one round in Seattle

SEATTLE (July 11) – A day that started with so much promise for Morgan Lucas and the GEICO Powersports Top Fuel dragster ended with a disappointment that went beyond wins and losses on Sunday at Pacific Raceways.

On Sunday, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster driver Mark Niver of Phoenix died following a crash following an elimination round run.

Lucas said he became close with Niver when Lucas was coming up the NHRA ranks in a Top Alcohol Dragster of his own.

“Mark Niver is one of the most awesome people I’ve ever met,” Lucas said. “He’s a great craftsman and a great human being. He was more optimistic than anyone I’ve ever met. The sport had a big loss today.”   
On the track, Lucas advanced to the second round by beating Steve Torrence in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals.

Lucas ran a 3.905 second pass at 309.06 mph to Torrence’s 3.916 at 310.55 mph.

He fell to No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta in the second round. Kalitta ran a 3.886 at 306.95 mph and Lucas had to pedal the car to a 4.471 at 189.66 mph.

Lucas said the recent single round wins were nice, but he’s now wanting more.

“I’ll be pleased when we start seeing some semis and finals,” Lucas said. “As of right now I feel like we have a lot to accomplish and a lot to prove.

“We’re going to go to Sonoma and try to learn from the mistakes we made this weekend.”

Up next for Lucas and the GEICO Powersports Top Fuel team is the July 16-18 Fram Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif.