Young Lucas maturing fast

Thursday, April 14, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

Although he turned 21 last November and finally can sample all the nightlife that Las Vegas has to offer, you won't see NHRA Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas out on the town during this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Lucas, just 12 races into his professional career after replacing the late Darrell Russell last August in Joe Amato's dragster, is a young man on a mission. Lucas said he is determined to earn his first Top Fuel victory this season and contend for the world championship and he is dedicating himself to the task at hand.

"Last weekend and this weekend, I really have decided to try to grow up in the sense that I'm really putting my career way ahead of any kind of social activities because winning our first race and winning a championship is very important to me," Lucas said. "I figure if I don't give it 110 percent, it's not fair to my team.

"I'm trying to mentally prepare myself at all times so this weekend, I plan on staying in my motorhome out (at the track) and being good."

Lucas has a good reason to put his entire focus on racing. Despite having less than half a season of experience in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series, Lucas is in second place in the Top Fuel standings after four races and trails defending champion Tony Schumacher by only 52 points heading into the weekend. And while he is hungry for his first pro victory, Lucas said he would delay achieving that goal to be in the running for a championship at the end of the season.

"I'll wait all year long to not get one single Wally just to get that double-decker Wally," Lucas said of the trophies handed out for race victories and the season championship.

"What keeps me leveled on the whole (championship battle) is that it's still early in the season and I know it could change in any weekend. One bad weekend -- or one good weekend -- and it will change. If we have one good weekend and Schumacher has a bad weekend ... we could be on top. But we've got to stay right there and keep nipping at his heels. In order to do that, the less errors that we make and the more everybody else makes is going to increase our odds of being the champion at the end of the year."

Lucas, who was racing in the Top Alcohol Dragster class in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series this time last year, has been on the fast track since Amato selected him to drive his Top Fuel dragster after Russell was killed in a crash during the national event last June at Gateway International Raceway. He qualified at all eight events he attempted after taking over in the Lucas Oil dragster (his father, Forrest, owns Lucas Oil Products) and advanced to his first final in Las Vegas last October.

This season, Lucas has qualified no worse than sixth in the first four events and advanced to the final at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix in February.

Last week, Lucas and the team returned to Russell's hometown of Houston and he was hoping to honor the late driver by winning his first Top Fuel race. He advanced to the semifinals before losing to Cory McClenathan and Lucas said he has some unfinished business this weekend.

"I made the comment before that the first race the we win, Julie Russell is getting the Wally and I still stand by that," Lucas said, referring to Russell's widow. "As much as we wished it was Houston, because she was there, this weekend is just as good because she'll be the first person we call at the other end."

Whether it comes this weekend or later this season, Lucas said he is confident the wins will come.

"We've got a great team and I know it's going to happen sooner or later," Lucas said. "Once we get all the bugs worked out and once our team completely jells, I think everybody's going to have a hard time; I'm not saying that in a cocky way, I just say that because I have a lot of confidence in the team. They know how to win (and) I've been in winning situations before, but I think this is a little more serious."