Devon Morgan is no stranger to Greenville Pickens Speedway but when he enters this weekends Winter Meltdown he’ll do so in an unfamiliar car with an unfamiliar crew.
Morgan, who made the decision late last year to leave asphalt racing and sell his 2018 championship winning Limited Late Model to go race on dirt, will be climbing behind the wheel of a Hawk-McCall Motorsports entry in an attempt to win $10,000 this Saturday. This race could be Morgan’s final ride on asphalt despite his success last season.
Read More: Anders Expects Stout Field and Exciting Racing in $10k Winter Meltdown
Morgan’s plan for the upcoming season is to compete in the Crate Sportman division on dirt at tracks around his home but when the opportunity to race for $10,000 in the division where he had won six races came up he couldn’t walk away without trying to make it work. His sponsors are helping make it happen without him having to take a chance at tearing up his own car, which is currently for sale.
“With selling the Limited we didn’t want to tear it up,” Morgan told RACE22.com. “We’ll be driving a car for Hawk-McCall Motorsports. The sponsors wanted me in this car and they made it happen.”
Morgan tested in the HMM car for the first time on Tuesday and while he started off kinda slow, by the end of the test he was up to speed.
“I had to adjust to asphalt again after running dirt at the end of the season. I also had to adjust to Lee (McCall’s) cars. They run big spring and I have always run coilover, so that took some time to get used to. We picked up a lot of speed by the end of the day and think we’re good for this weekend.”
Morgan says the opportunity to work with a Daytona 500 winning crew chief like Lee McCall is amazing.
“He’s great,” continued Morgan. “He knows so much about racing and especially Greenville. He could see where I was messing up and told me what to do to fix it. He helped me pick up a lot of speed by the end of the day. It’s amazing working with him.”
Morgan is hoping to be able to visit victory lane again on Saturday evening and being behind the wheel of one of the top cars at Greenville Pickens Speedway certainly won’t hurt. Plus given the strategy that goes into the three-segment format of this 125-lap race, Morgan will have a steady guide in McCall on pit road.
While Morgan is planning to transition completely to dirt racing following this weekends race, he’s hoping other opportunities could come about for him to race on asphalt more.
“I’m hoping to get more opportunities after this weekend but we’ll see what happens. I’d like to run the big race at Myrtle Beach but with no funding for the asphalt car, something will have to come up.”
Funding is a big reason why Morgan and others are leaving asphalt racing and headed to the dirt tracks. Morgan says dirt is more enjoyable and affordable.
“On dirt, you can show up later and run and be done sooner and it’s cheaper to race,” commented Morgan. “We just don’t have the funding to make the asphalt work and the dirt works for our budget.”
Morgan will be supported by Shore2Shore Express, Innovative Manufacturing & Design, BKP Art and his mom and dad this weekend as he heads into the Winter Meltdown looking for one last Limited Late Model win and the $10,000 prize that comes with winning.
In addition to the Limited Late Model race, the Late Model Stock Cars and all other track divisions will compete on opening day. The race is set for 2:00pm this Saturday and RACE22.com will have RACEDAY LIVE updates of the event starting with practice at 9:00am.
Cover photo by Karlie Roe
