Larry Morgan’s 600th NHRA race shaping up to be a memorable one

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Always eager to smile, veteran Pro Stock racer Larry Morgan is enjoying every moment of his milestone 600th NHRA drag race this weekend. Fortunately, his Gray Motorsports-powered FireAde Camaro is adding to the good times, carrying this year’s Four-Wide Nationals winner to a top-half perch on the elimination ladder of the Toyota NHRA Summernationals.

Morgan qualified sixth overall with a best pass of 6.512 seconds at 214.14 mph, giving him the advantage of lane choice over No. 11 qualifier Allen Johnson (6.534 at 212.69 mph) when eliminations begin Sunday around noon ET. Morgan’s top speed is the third-fastest of the meet.

“That big speed is good because big speed means big horsepower with these naturally-aspirated motors,” Morgan said. “I’ll tell you, we’re starting to get aggravated that we’re not knocking out a few No. 1 qualifiers ourselves because we have the race car to be on the pole. If my car had gone straight in Q3, we would be on the pole here.

“We know this car’s performance is there. We just need to line it all up, and we will. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to even say that because we haven’t always had the performance potential, but we sure do now.”

As for competing in his 600th national event, third only to John Force (668 races) and Warren Johnson (649), Morgan says he has been living a dream throughout his professional driving career.

“We’re having the best times of our lives right now,” Morgan said. “God bless Ron and Teresa Thames, the owners of FireAde, for giving us such great support. The guys with Gray Motorsports have been awesome engine suppliers. It’s just the way you want it to be.

“The fans are really having fun with the 600th-race deal. Everyone’s been stopping by to congratulate us, and when we’re pulling up to make a run or going back to the pits after a run you can hear every everyone yelling their support for us. It’s been a really cool deal, and I thank everyone for being so nice.”

ESPN2 will carry the elimination action Sunday afternoon.

“The best way to celebrate 600 races is to win it all,” he said. “That would be something. We got it done in Charlotte a few races back. It’s time for another one.”