King Morris Wants to Recapture His Throne

RIDGEWAY, VA :: You can’t go to Martinsville Speedway without talking about Philip Morris.  Morris is a three-time winner of the Martinsville DuPont Credit Union (MDCU) 300 and, while not the fastest in testing, he always arrives at Martinsville with his Sunday best.

Morris is considered “The King” of Late Model Stock Car racing for his incredible accomplishments over the years.  However, Morris hasn’t won a race since his victory in the 2012 MDCU 300.   The last three seasons, he has run a limited schedule at South Boston Speedway while also running in the MDCU 300.  However, the lack of seat time doesn’t slow King Morris down.

“I’ve logged a lot of laps here at Martinsville so it’s just like the old saying about riding a horse or riding a bike.  You know, it’s always Martinsville.  It’s the same surface.  It’s the same banking, which is kind of refreshing.  The only thing that’s changed are the cars and tires.  I feel like we’ve got a pretty good handle on it.  I’m looking forward to this race.  It semes like we always have a pretty good car for the race and struggle a little bit on practice day.  The Clarence’s Steakhouse car is always a lot better when we get back to the race.”

Morris will again be piloting the iconic white and orange no. 26 Clarence’s Steakhouse ride – running a Hedgecock chassis and a Kowalski engine.  For part of the summer, he raced at South Boston Speedway, driving for Steve James.  He began running for James in the summer months and spent much of his short schedule playing catchup the competition.

“The car ran good.  You know, I missed a lot of time, a lot of races,” Morris commented.  “We actually got started for the year and were playing catchup all the way to the end of the year and it seemed like we never did catch up to what everybody else was.  We certainly made a lot of big strides, started up front some and also made the car a lot better.”

With Morris running his own car at Martinsville, it would seem likely that we’d see the Philip Morris we’re used to seeing, the one that has won the MDCU 300 three times and has won four NASCAR Whelen All American Series National Championships.

“I hope so,” Morris said when asked if fans would be seeing the Morris they’re used to.  “I’m not giving up all the laps that I gave up during the year.  I think most of these guys are rolling in here pretty equal.  I feel like I might have a little edge with a lot of laps logged here so they’re getting the car where I want it and I think it got better during the test.  I think we’re about where we need to be.”

Regardless of where he was on the charts in testing, Morris always arrives at Martinsville at the top of his game and is always a contender.  Morris has led 653 laps at Martinsville Speedway in a Late Model and has amassed five top-five finishes and eight top-10 finishes in 16 starts.  Last year, Morris was involved in an accident, triggered when Lee Pulliam wrecked off the front bumper of Deac McCaskill, relegating him to a 16^th place finish.

The King is back at Martinsville again and he’s looking to take possession of his throne on again by taking home his fourth grandfather clock and end a two-year winless streak in the process.