FireAde’s Larry Morgan blows into Windy City final round

CHICAGO – FireAde driver Larry Morgan continued his resurgence in 2015 by racing to the final round of the Lucas Oil Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway.

Morgan eventually came up short against race winner Allen Johnson, but Chicago marked his second final round of 2015 and improved his round record to 14-12. The Chicago final was the 35th of Morgan’s long career and his first in Chicago.

“Final round does sound good,” Morgan said. “Hey, we had a good weekend. We did learn some things, and I’m good with all of it. I wish we’d have won but we didn’t, so let’s go to the next one.”

Morgan qualified No. 9 but had plenty of confidence after a pass in the third qualifying session that was second-quickest. He carried that into the first round against Gray Motorsports-powered teammate Shane Gray with a pass of 6.599 seconds at 210.28 mph that beat Gray’s 6.610 at 210.41 mph.

That put Morgan against No. 1 qualifier Drew Skillman, and after leaving first with a .039-second reaction time, Morgan sped to the win light with a 6.608-second pass at 209.75 mph while Skillman trailed with a run of 6.701 at 208.39.

Morgan then needed a stellar effort to beat Pro Stock champion Erica Enders in the semifinals. Though Enders had a terrific .017 light, Morgan was better with a .006. His pass of 6.630 seconds at 209.88 mph held off Enders’ 6.625-second run at 209.36 mph.

“Let me tell you something, she’s the best out here,” Morgan said. “Erica is killer. The awards she’s got and what she’s had to go through as a woman out here, my hat’s off to her. She does one hell of a job. I like to race her; she brings the best out in everybody. We all want to beat her. But she knows when she runs me, I’m not going to cut her any slack.”

In the final, Morgan slowed to a 6.667-second pass at 210.18 mph while Johnson went cleanly down the left lane with a run of 6.624 seconds at 209.88 mph.

“NHRA knew the track was getting bad, and because of the JEGS Allstars they didn’t choose to do anything about it,” Morgan said. “It was real bad, but we could’ve had the option to do something to help us and we didn’t do it, so shame on us.”

Morgan and Johnson have raced each other in four of the last five events, with Johnson getting the upper hand three times. That prompted Morgan to joke that Johnson needs to return the favor in Denver, a race Johnson has owned in recent years.

“I had to run Allen in the final, and we’ve had some bouts lately,” Morgan said. “Allen is a good racer, and I was glad for those guys that they got a win. I guess going to their track in Denver, it’s my turn.”