It's all new to Morgan Lucas, this notion of competing for a Top Fuel championship.

He said he's trying not to get too carried away with that or the fact he has taken a huge stride toward the goal this past weekend at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals.

But the success is something he certainly doesn't mind getting used to.

It's all new to Morgan Lucas, this notion of competing for a Top Fuel championship.

He said he's trying not to get too carried away with that or the fact he has taken a huge stride toward the goal this past weekend at the Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals.

But the success is something he certainly doesn't mind getting used to.

"We've never been in this situation, chasing a championship. We just want to run good. We want to know that we're doing the best we can do," the GEICO/Lucas Oil Dragster driver said Sunday evening after defeating Spencer Massey to move from eighth place in the standings to third.

Lucas led from start to finish against Massey, winning with a 3.788-second elapsed time at 317.49 mph on the 1,000-foot course at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C. Massey, driving the Battery Extender Dragster, challenged with a 3.816, 319.60 as he replaced  first-round loser Shawn Langdon as the points leader.

Massey will carry a 24-point lead into this weekend's race at the Texas Motorplex, south of Dallas at Ennis in the second of six Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship events. The Fort Worth native never has won there but has been runner-up twice.

Lucas, meanwhile, is only six points behind No. 2 Langdon. Still, he said, "If you start counting your chickens before they hatch, you start having problems.

"Like I said, we never chased the championship in our shop. We don't know. At this point we feel confident saying we know how to win races. We know how to put ourselves in that position," he said. "But we don't want to put any unneeded pressure on anything.

"When Vegas rolls around and we're in the running for it, then we'll be considering it," Lucas said of point-counting.

It was a wild weekend that saw reigning champion Antron Brown fail to qualify and the Al-Anabi team of points leader Shawn Langdon and No. 5-ranked teammate Khalid alBalooshi lose in Sunday's first round, along with No. 3 Tony Schumacher. And Lucas indicated he knows that all could be one massive hiccup for the class, not a harbinger that the strongest teams all year long will falter down the stretch.

"Alan Johnson has two good cars, and Shawn just lost an unfortunate race," Lucas said. "He could have easily gone on to win this thing. That's just how the competition is.

"It was just our weekend this weekend," he said. "We're just really fortunate that God's taking care of us right now. My guys have worked hard, and I'm proud to see them get out of this car what they've put into it."

Lucas, with tuning from crew chief Aaron Brooks, advanced past Terry McMillen, his own teammate Brandon Bernstein, and Doug Kalitta.

That completed a stellar weekend in which he was No. 1 qualifier, posted low E.T. in two of four qualifying sessions and three of four elimination rounds, and earned his second victory in four races and ninth of his Top Fuel career. He qualified with a 3.7-second E.T. and had three more among his four runs Sunday.

"It's not something we're used to doing, by any stretch," Lucas said. "But Aaron, he's an aggressive guy." He said his own personal strategy is to let Brooks operate in his own vacuum. Said Lucas, "I just don't to mess him up or do anything stupid, which I could easily do."

Massey, the No. 7 qualifier, beat Brittany Force, Leah Pruett, and Clay Millican and pushed on after a spectacular engine explosion in the first round Sunday.

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