The chute deployed almost at the drop of the green, but Lucas got the win when Brady Kalivoda went up in smoke.  (Steve Gruenwald photos)

After his parachutes popped out early in a fortunate first-round win over Brady Kalivoda, Lucas stormed past Spencer Massey in Sunday's second round with a pass of 3.747 seconds at 322.73 mph that at the time was the third-quickest ET in history.

Monday, he went faster. In the semifinals against Doug Kalitta, Lucas rolled to a 3.746-second run at 321.50 mph. That set up a final-round date with Tony Schumacher. Lucas had lost to Schumacher in three final rounds before knocking him off in Memphis. 

On Monday, as Schumacher smoked the tires, Lucas poured on the steam with a run of 3.743 seconds at 326.87 mph.  (Adam Cranmer photo)

"You have to ride the wave while it's up because it's not always going to be up," Lucas said. "You can't always count on everything going perfect and smooth and always having success. We might go through a stretch of first-round losses or maybe not qualifying for a race. There's variables that can happen in this sport to everybody. You just have to be able to take it in stride.

"Right now, my confidence is sky high. I've never had a better group of guys to work with. It means the world to me to be part of this team."

Lucas now holds three of the five quickest runs in Top Fuel history, as his 3.743 is second, with the 3.746 fourth and the 3.747 fifth.

He credits Brooks and Centorbi for the team's resurgence. To go along with his Gatornationals victory, Lucas has two No. 1 qualifiers and seven round wins in three races under their leadership.

"Everybody on our team is extremely competitive," said Lucas, who is second in the Top Fuel points standings. "I think we've finally got really good chemistry going with the addition of Aaron and Rod. It's rejuvenated the whole program. Everybody's excited.