Morgan Lucas Interview

In the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season, Geico powersports Top Fuel Pilot and Team Owner Morgan Lucas, looks to build on the success of 2012. With teammate Brandon Bernstein ending the season on such a dramatic fashion, hopes are high for 2013. In a sit down interview that took place in Pomona, Morgan talked about his team, his ideals for the top fuel class, and the exciting ending to the 2012 Top Fuel season:



 The difference in your teams' performance since hiring Aaron Brooks & Rod Centorbi has been amazing, it has literally turned the team around:



"Aaron has tremendous experience as a crew chief, mostly working on a funny car not on a dragster though.We (Morgan Lucas Racing) went to testing (West Palm Beach FL) found a very good baseline which to tune from. That allowed us to go down the track, gather as much information to help the team improve for the upcoming 2013 season. What is great about our team is that Aaron likes to receieve input from our crew. He is always asking "what did you see, what did you notice on this run or the run prior."


So, do you feel the sense of confidence from Aaron and the team about the prospects for the 2013 Mello Yello season?


" I certainly do, because a crew chief has to be good at preparing the dragster for a run much the same way as a golfer does putting a deliberate fade on a shot. The Crew chief  will look at the track, read track temps and tune based on the conditions at the time. With Brandon's crew chief Joe Barlam, he tends to be more timid, more consistent than Aaron who is more aggressive and not as consistent as far as both cars going down the track. What we are doing for the 2013 Mello Yello season is become more consistent rather than trying to be the quickest of the event. With that, We at Morgan Lucas Racing are excited, looking forward to what the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season brings."


Now that there is new found sense of excitement within the team, do you feel that Morgan Lucas Racing can go after the title, not that you didn't do so in the 2012 season:


"I feel that at the moment, we are still not quite there in terms of chasing the championship, and I know that sounds strange. For a lot of drivers and teams, the process of chasing a championship is learned as the season goes on, realizing as they get close, they minimize as much of the mistakes as possible. A lot of the success of Don Schumacher Racing is predicated on minimizing first round loses, being consistent as possible every run. At Morgan Lucas racing, our goal is to be consistent on every run. Last season, we averaged a 6th place finish at each event. Yes, we do want to chase the championship, but we realize that the competition isn't letting up on anyone. Consistency is the key for us for the 2013 season."


The fact that there is no longer any testing bans during the season, do you feel that will help in someways yours' and Brandon's cars in terms of setups. Do you share those setups between each other?


"The fact that the tune up on Brandon's car was so wide after working on it so much during last season, the Protect The Harvest Team would tune it to run a .79, and the car would run quicker than what was anticipated. If you were to talk to crew chiefs who have been a part of this sport for some time is that once your tune up is close, most of the time, a great run will come up on the board. That is a great thing to see and be part of. The Geico Top Fueler seems to need more of a  tune-up than the Protect The Harvest car does, as far as  power is concerned. But the performance seems to be very close between the two. There is a lot of communication between the teams, finding what setup works and whats doesn't work, that apsect really helps us alot during an event."


In terms of engine development, not much has changed over the last few seasons, except cylinder head configuration, which had made the top fuel class so close that any car can win:


"It has become more of a drivers sport, plus tuneups being nearly identical have made it that way. One of the big reasons that the class is so close, the NHRA created a rule freeze during the off-season, which will save teams a tremendous amount of money in the long run. For example, one run alone is in the neighborhood of 250,000. It's true that even though Lucas Oil is a large corporation, the budget to run our top fuel teams grows exponentially due to testing, which can run 30,000 to 40,000 each session. As you look at the scope of what the NHRA has done in terms of money spent by teams, it is a positive step in the right direction."


Does the process of going through a 3-4 or 5 day event (US Nationals) have any affect on the crews:


It has an effect on the guys. I know that it sounds peculiar, but when the crew readies everything from the maintenance, to the preparation at the track, then driving 2 days to get to an event, it has an adverse affect. Only making one run a day at certain events (US Nationals being the exception), being away from family and friends also takes its toll upon the crew. For us, if there were a way re-organize the race weekend, to save the fans, and the teams a bit of money. Look at the overhead costs, try to see if a two day event in the place of a three-day event would be feasible, that in turn might bring in more fans, giving them a much better show. A good friend once told me that live sports, is the best form of reality TV. With NHRA event is such an amazing sense of speed and power, the fact that they are pursuing live events later in the season, along with racing being so close will only serve to help the sport grow even more.


The Epic Top Fuel Final last November in Pomona had to be one the greatest ever seen. Tell me what you felt seeing your teammate Brandon winning thus giving your good friend Antron Brown the Top Fuel Title


" It was such an amazing thing to see, I was more excited to see Brandon win than any other win in my career. He is such a gentlemen, has a wonderful family, he puts others ahead of himself which speaks to his character. When it comes to rooting for him and his Protect The Harvest Team, it is an exciting feeling knowing that the winless streak was finally over in such dramatic fashion, beating Tony Schumacher with whom Brandon loves to race against.


At the same time, some thought must be given to how amazing it was to see Antron Brown become Top Fuel Champion in a dramatic way:


Antron is such a tremendous person, we were so happy to see him become the champion in dramatic fashion. He has a great personality, easy to deal with. Fans gravitate towards him due to the fact he is outgoing, well loved by all the competitors. It is hard to put into words how excited everyone was last november at Pomona. From the teams, to the fans, to the officials, to the audience watching the finals on TV when the finals in top fuel took place to determine a champion between teammates Antron and Tony, it was a final for the ages.


It is amazing how far the sport has come with speeds reaching 330 MPH at 1,000 Ft. What do you feel are some changes that the NHRA can do to help slow the cars:


" Certain teams are very good at pushing the envelope, it is the NHRA's responsibility to take a look at what can be done to help curb the astronomical speeds, The rules freeze goes a long in doing just that. During pre-season testing that took place at West Palm Beach in January, MSD ignition tested a box which in turn limited the RPM's. The concern that I have with that is this, as hard as the teams run these motors, the risk of damaging parts during a run becomes great. I feel that there is a better way of finding a solution to slowing Top Fuel down. One way would be to return back to what Top Fuel teams ran in 2008-09, that would produce less cost for teams rather than replacing the entire engine which costs upwards of 20,000-30,000 to replace due to an engine explosion. Smaller market teams will certainly appreciate that because they are part of the lifeblood of our sport. It is also wonderful to see that smaller teams can compete, putting their families name or local business on the side of their dragster. That fact helps everyone stay interested and excited about what our sport has to offer."


The economy as we know it is in a bit of trouble, what is something that the sport of Drag Racing can do to bring more sponsors, fans and teams into viewing the NHRA for the first time:


"Live TV will definitely go a long towards doing that, I for one am very excited because of it. NHRA at the moment have not told us which event will be televised live (rumor is houston), they have also tried a 50 minute turnaround time which teams are readily adapting to everyone for when the sport is on live TV. Emotions around the pit area are high,we at Morgan Lucas Racing are hopeful for what the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello season will bring."