Lucas and GEICO team ready to attack 2011 drag racing season

With some new personnel, new parts, and a new attitude, Morgan Lucas and his GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster team are prepared to make the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Series season their best ever.

"Heck yeah, we're ready to go racing," Lucas said. "We're ready to show everyone that we're back and we're serious.

"I had a down year in 2010, the whole team was down. But the changes we made and way we finished Pomona at the end of the season, it's made me think we have a car that can compete with any car out there. That's exciting."

After winning three times in 2009, Lucas didn't find his way to the winner's circle in 2010. However the addition two-time champion crew chief Dickie Venables late in the year, combined with the latest and greatest cylinder heads acquired in the off season, have spirits high in the Morgan Lucas Racing shop, particularly after a solid test session last month in Florida.

It all adds up high hopes as the team enters the season-opening 51st annual Kragen O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, Feb. 24-27, at historic Auto Club Raceway.

"The vibe around the shop is really good right now," Lucas said. "Everyone is eager to get out and do everything we've got to do to win again. To be honest with you, everyone has a lot of confidence and to me that's really important."

As usual for Lucas, there will be no easing in to the new season. Pomona is just a few towns over from Lucas Oil's main production facility in Corona, Calif. The youngest son of company founders Forrest and Charlotte Lucas knows there will be many red, white, and blue-clad fans at the track ready to root on the GEICO/Lucas Oil rail.

"The first day back at the track is always the busiest," Lucas said. "You have to make sure everything is back on the car the way it's supposed to, you have to shake a lot of hands, and you have get back in that rhythm of being back at the track.

"Then you have the first run of the season, which can be the most nerve wracking. But every year you race, it gets where you're more eager than nervous. I love what I do. I love to race cars for a living. So this is more of an opportunity for me than an obligation."

Qualifying for the 51st annual Kragen O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals gets under way at 1:30 p.m. PT on Thursday from Auto Club Raceway. Eliminations start at 11 a.m. on Sunday. ESPN2 will carry qualifying highlights at 8 p.m. PT, Saturday, and race day coverage at 4 p.m. PT, Sunday.