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MISSED IT BY - THAT MUCH – NHRA Pep Boys Nationals Recap

Nitro Joe Morrison’s First NHRA Pro Round Win Cut Short by Last Second Block Strike

READING, PA (September 15, 2024) – With all apologies to Maxwell Smart, Nitro Joe Morrison’s search for his first NHRA Professional category round win could be summed up with his infamous catchphrase, “missed it by THAT much.”

In just his second career start in the nitro Funny Car class in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Nitro Joe Morrison, driving the PennGrade 1 High Performance Oil Dodge Funny Car, owned and tuned by Paul Smith, almost posted the upset of the race in the opening round of the NHRA Pep Boys Nationals contested at Maple Grove Raceway.

Almost – by about 18-inches.

Morrison entered Sunday eliminations as the No. 14 qualified Funny Car on the property. This set up a head-to-head matchup with two-time world champion and John Force replacement driver Jack Beckman, who finished in the number three qualifying spot.

“We were so excited to see this PennGrade 1 High Performance Oil Funny Car continue to make improvements on the track,” said Morrison, who has raced Top Fuel and fuel altered throughout his career. “I am getting more comfortable in the race car. These are not easy racecars to drive and with every run I learn something new.”

And learning something new is exactly what occurred in round one.

On race day Morrison knew he would have to be at his best if he was going to try and get the round win over Beckman. During the Top Fuel elimination round that preceded Funny Car there were several upsets and the track conditions proved to be tricky for all the crew chiefs.

Beckman and Morrison launched and were charging towards the finish line side by side. Around the 400’ mark, Beckman began to haze his tires, and Morrison was pulling away from the eventual Pep Boys Nationals runner-up, when the PennGrade 1 High Performance Oil Funny Car began moving towards the center line. Morrison was furiously working to keep his Funny Car in his lane, but at the last second the nose of his Funny Car clipped the finish line timing block.

While Morrison was on his way to a career best elapsed time (an early lifting yet unofficial 4.05-second elapsed time at only 290 miles per hour), and he reached the finish line first ahead of Beckman, his run was disqualified for the timing block infraction.

“That was a tough loss,” said Morrison. “We were winning that race until we were not. I was turning that steering wheel as hard as I could. I stayed on the throttle as long as I could because I could hear Beckman beside me, so I knew he was close. Paul told me afterwards he was glad I stayed on the throttle, which means a lot. You want to have the fire and courage to win. It’s not easy. We didn’t hurt the car too bad, and we will learn from this.”

Morrison continued, “Paul had this car deadly consistent and quick all weekend. During qualifying, we decided to run the car to the 660’ clocks, then lift early to save parts. Our incremental numbers in Q2 and Q3 were within 0.003 at each timing marker up to 660’.”

“According to our run data, that car was well on its way to a low four-second or high three-second ET in round one. I have the utmost respect and confidence in Paul’s team and his tuning ability – and look forward to building on this weekend’s performance as we move into 2025.”

While the on-track results are not reflected in the wins and losses column Morrison knows that the impact from Funny Car performance will carry over from Maple Grove Raceway. The veteran driver has not ruled out a return to the track in 2024 but he for sure will return in 2025 to continue to develop his Funny Car driving skills.

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