NHRA: Lucas puts his foot down, finally

Score one for the gecko.

It was good to see Morgan Lucas score a victory — his first — in a pedalfest at the Summit NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta. I’m not sure there is a driver out there who needed a victory more than Lucas.

He has been at it for a few years, and with sponsorship so difficult to get — and maintain — you have to hope this top fuel victory goes a long way toward keeping that GEICO program together.

I’ve always had the feeling that Lucas, 25, might be one of those drivers who wins once, and then becomes a factor every week. With a little confidence, and a little success, it may be that he becomes a player in the championship. The more solid competitors there are in top fuel — and right now it’s trailing the funny car field in that area — the better for the sport.

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NHRA: Maybe God drives a Mustang

It’s stuff like this that forces you to believe in providence. The Ford Mustang is celebrating its 45th anniversary this weekend.

The Ford Mustang is No. 1-2 in funny car qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta.

The two drivers are Ashley Force Hood and her father, John Force.

Who faced each other a year ago in the finals of the same event.

Where Ashley became the first female winner in a funny car.

And beat her dad, the winningest driver in NHRA history.

Driving a Mustang.

NHRA: Under pressure, Pedregon earns his money

Cruz Pedregon had prepared himself for this moment. Had told himself everything would be all right, that he would be relaxed, that the first round of the 44th Auto Club Finals in Pomona would be just another race.

That’s what he kept telling himself, lying with every word.

Money time.

He was going up against journeyman Jerry Toliver. It would be OK.

Keep calm and stay focused. It was no different from 500 other runs in his career.

Then he tried to strap himself into his 8,000 horsepower Toyota Funny Car and it took hold.

The pressure that he said he would avoid? His body was imploding.

Money time.

Pedregon had crossed over into Ron Capps’ world, had discovered what it was like to be stuffed into a fishbowl and squeezed with a million dreams.

NHRA: Hight looks like a championship force

Robert Hight looks like he should be wearing a brown shirt and shorts and delivering my  packages from HSN. Parcel delivery. Short. Solid. Fit. And maybe that’s appropriate because in Hight’s day job, he delivers the mail for John Force Racing.

He drives a Funny Car 330 mph. For the last couple of years, he has just missed winning an NHRA Powerade Drag Racing championship.

“He’s got everything that it takes, not just to win a championship, but to win 10,” said Force, who has won 14 and knows a little something about what it takes. “I see so much of him in me. Ashley (Force) is still learning the ropes, but Robert is ready right now.”

Though nitro racing may be a crew chief’s sport — and Jimmy Prock is no lightweight — Hight has all the tools to saddle the horsepower and ride the lead car in Force’s Pony Express.

NHRA: No need to fear, Wilkerson is here

Tim Wilkerson has a gentle voice, a happy face and drag racing by the throat.

For years, he has raced with bandaids and bubble gum on a shoestring budget.

For years, he has been consigned to the second tier.

For years, he has been in the shadow of John Force, Tony Pedregon and Gary Scelzi.

Not this year.

He is the best story in motorsports, the second coming of Alan Kulwicki, who stunned NASCAR when his single car team won the Winston Cup championship in 1992.

In a sport with four Force entries, three Don Schumacher entries and two from the Pedregon brothers, Wilkerson is leading the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing championship. He has fewer resources than Kenny Bernstein and Del Worsham, yet six times this season he has held Sweet Wally Purebred over his head, the trophy that goes to every winner who is a real life Underdog.

NHRA: Pedregon’s bold talk sounds convincing

The comment might have seemed brash, maybe even conceited, certainly bold in a world in which John Force still exists. But Tony Pedregon said it before the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio  five events ago.

“The road to the championship,” he said, “still goes through the Pedregons.”

Believe him.