TORC Red Bud Eludes Shawn Morris
Morris and the team had high hopes of getting a first win as they rolled into the Red Bud MX track. The lush forests of southwest Michigan and ideal weather conditions created a picturesque setting for rounds 3 and 4 of the TORC series.
Friday saw a full afternoon of practice for the Pro classes, starting with a 20 minute open session, followed by a 3 lap session and then concluded with a 6 lap qualifying. Each practice session the truck got better and better as final adjustments were made. With a closely balanced field of Pro Lights Morris qualified 9th. With the top 6 being inverted, he would have to work his way through the pack.
Saturday morning, Morris went out for a few more practice laps and began to focus and prepare for the afternoon’s race. When the green flag dropped on Round 3, Morris began picking off trucks one by one. At the competition caution he was 6th. Two laps after the restart, he sustained damage from racing contact, resulting in a broken upper control bar and spindle. Due to the damage done to the truck, Morris was unable to finish and was scored just out of the top 10.
After a 2 lap shake down practice on Sunday morning, the crew went into prep mode. With temps in the high 90’s, everyone was ready to hit the track. Morris started in the 11th position and worked his way up into 6th. 1 lap before the competition caution, a steering malfunction caused the truck to vier off course, hit a k-rail, and roll. When the safety crew got Morris back on his wheels, he continued to charge hard, but unfortunately was a lap down.
Brad Lovell went on to take the win at the checkered flag Sunday. “It was a hard day for the team,” explained morris. “But we are excited to see fellow Colorado driver Brad Lovell get his first win. Just like us, he is a privateer racer so it was great to see him get the win if it couldn’t be us.”
Leaving Red Bud without the team’s first ProLight win, was disappointing, but Morris is very optimistic about the next stop on the TORC tour, Crandon International Off Road Raceway, “The fan support was great at Red Bud but I’m ready to put that weekend behind us and look forward to Crandon. I got my first podium in Crandon last year and I can’t wait to get back on the box there. The team is testing at Crandon on June 8th, just before the Brush Run weekend, so we will be ready to take everyone on.”
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Category: Press Releases, Race Recap
