Todd Morrow
Todd Morrow didn’t exactly have the season he was hoping for in 2014, but he has every reason to believe that 2015 will provide plenty of success. The Chattanooga resident looks to start a new venture in the coming year that could very well place him in contention for a touring series title.
“It’s been up and down,” Morrow said of his most recent campaign. “We had some good runs and some bad runs, but all in all, it’s been a pretty good year.”
As with many racers, the Morrow team’s finances were a major factor in determining his success on the track last season.
“The way my budget was, I didn’t really have the money to run supers a lot so I just ran whatever was available,” the 29-year-old explained. “It’s been a real struggle trying to run supers this year with my own team.”
Recent developments, however, have provided hope for the future. Morrow has joined forces with new partners and the new team has plans for competing for both race wins and series championships.
“I was definitely going to do something different next season then Tommy Pope and Joey Phillips put a deal together for next year,” Morrow said. “For right now, we’re planning on running the Southern All Stars series and as many Ray Cook races(Spring Nationals and Southern Nationals) as we can. It’s a full time super deal and I’m real pumped up. I’ve not had a ride in four or five years so I took a step back. Now, I’m having to get back into it. Hopefully, we can run good.”
The new opportunity not only provided a boost, but was possibly a career saver for the driver. And it all came together in relatively short order
“Basically, I was struggling just getting to the racetrack and I was looking to do something different,” Morrow detailed. “I talked to Mark Banks, I drove his car at North Georgia, and told him I was going to do something different next year because I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. He talked to Tommy and got the ball rolling. I guess we finalized everything a few weeks ago at Talladega. It all happened pretty fast.”
The current economic climate in Dirt Late Model racing has brought about a number of recent closures by teams with drivers being forced to give up the sport as a result. Morrow is thankful that won’t be the case for him.
“With everybody quitting and losing rides, I was happy to get everything done for 2015 early so all I have to worry about is driving and getting cars ready,” he stated.
The situation with the Pope and Phillips operation will free Morrow from the stress of having to deal with the day to day worries of running a team and will allow him to focus on his favorite task. The team will utilize Warrior Race Cars with power provided by Cornett Race Engines as well as Jay Dickens Engines.
“I’m nervous for them,” he said of his new team owners. “I really want to run good because deserve it with all the money they’re putting into this deal. It’s nice to know that I don’t have to wear a car owner hat and a driver hat. I can actually enjoy driving. They’ve got great stuff and have given me a great opportunity. I’m really excited about next year and feel like we can compete in these races as long as I keep my head on straight and work hard in the shop.”
Much of Morrow’s life has revolved around racing, and he is glad to have that continue into another season.
“I was born racing,” Morrow declared, recalling his family’s history in the sport. “It’s really all I know how to do. It’s one reason why I wanted to find a ride because I was doing something next year and all my friends race so I didn’t really know what I was going to do if I didn’t find something to drive. All my friends go to the races so I was in bad trouble if something didn’t come along.”
