"I don't want to feel like we get hot and peak," Lucas said. "I want to feel like we get the kind of hot where you maintain the consistency throughout the back half of the year. I'd really like to make a serious run at the championship. We know how to run fast, but if we can keep making these cars as good as we possibly can, we'll have a legitimate shot."

Lucas reached the final in Phoenix in the second race of the season but hit a lull midway through the year. But performances in Sonoma and Seattle on hot racetracks have Lucas and his team primed for a hot streak.

"We've had so many inconsistencies with the car this year," Lucas said. "I'm not trying to put anything down, but we just had our struggles. I feel like this is a symbol that we're turning a corner. The consistency is getting there. Even on a hot track like this we managed to get down, and that's really a blessing for us."

Lucas, the No. 5 qualifier, began the day by taking out Doug Kalitta with a pass of 3.817 seconds at 318.32 mph. Kalitta, the No. 12 qualifier, smoked the tires and had a run of 4.905 seconds at 148.62 mph.

That put him against No. 4 qualifier Khalid al Balooshi, but Lucas was up to the task, leaving with al Balooshi and then outrunning him with a pass of 3.869 at 305.29 mph to al Balooshi's 3.942-second run at 284.69 mph.

In the semifinals, Lucas squared off against No. 1 qualifier and good friend Shawn Langdon. While Lucas made a solid pass of 3.867 seconds at 308.43 mph, Langdon smoked the tires and had a 4.825-second pass at 168.16 mph.

That left only No. 2 qualifier David Grubnic between Lucas and a Wally, and Lucas was prepared for anything.

"Going up to the final I was baking, sweating in my firesuit and was thinking, 'Man, if we just go down the racetrack, that gives us pretty good odds,' " Lucas said.

Seattle had rain on Friday that wiped out the first two qualifying sessions and then Saturday was cloudy with temperatures barely getting in the 70s.

But Sunday was sunny and much warmer as temps reached the mid-80s. Crew chief Aaron Brooks, however, dealt with the changing conditions with aplomb, and Lucas made a pass of 3.908 seconds at 296.57 mph. With Grubnic spinning the tires in a 4.253-second pass at 256.31 mph, Lucas had his eighth career victory.

"My mindset going up there was if this thing smokes the tires, get ready to do some 'dirt-track driving,' " Lucas said. "That's kind of what these cars feel like whenever you pedal them and are trying to get them down there. You try to finesse them as much as you can, and I got my mind ready to do that just because you don't know what's going to happen."