(Press Release from New London-Waterford Speedbowl)
Ryan Morgan, 24, of Ledyard took a bad break and transformed it into a career-changing positive result.
It was just about one year ago that Morgan suffered a broken foot in a work accident, sidelining him for a good portion of the summer.
Instead of looking for sympathy, however, Morgan decided to take advantage of the down time.
“It was a bummer, what happened last year,” Morgan said. “But as a team, it made us better. We were able to put all of our notes together as one and figured out the things we needed to work on. So when we came back, we were even stronger.”
Morgan proved that by coming back from the injury and winning his first race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Sept. 10.
And he hasn’t stopped winning. He has won four races in 2018 — two at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and two at Thompson.
Morgan hopes to continue his winning ways Saturday on Double Late Model features night at the Speedbowl. In addition to twin Late Model features, all of the other Speedbowl regular divisions also will be in action — the SK Modifieds, the SK Lite Modifieds, the Sportsman, the Mini Stocks, the Legends and the Speedbowl Trucks. Qualifying is scheduled to get under way at 5 p.m.
Morgan enters Saturday competition tied with Jason Palmer for the Late Model point lead.
“It has been a lot of fun, and we’re finally having some good luck,” Morgan said. “We’ve had many years of bad luck and it’s been a long road coming back. Hopefully, we’re finally over the hump.”
Morgan started his career when he was 5-years-old racing Mini Karts at Pomfret Speedway. He advanced to Quarter-Midgets at the Little T Speedway when he was 7 and then moved up to Legends competition at Waterford Speedbowl when he was 12, winning seven races.
Following his Legends days, however, Morgan’s career started to spin its wheels.
He drove a Thompson Modified for three seasons, and then climbed into a Late Model at the Speedbowl. After moving to the SK Modified in 2015, he went back into the Late Models. And not all the results were pretty.
“There were a lot of accidents,” Morgan said, “some worse than others. I got into a bad wreck in a Late Model in 2012 and it took me a long time to overcome my fear and get back in the car again. And I had some bad wrecks in an SK. I think it took many years of bad times to finally bring out the good times.”
Morgan said his crew is responsible for all the recent good times,
“Definitely, it’s been a team effort,” Morgan said. “It means so much,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t do it without everyone contributing. If you don’t have enough guys on your team, it’s hard to compete with the front-runners.”
He says the key member of his race team is his dad.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without him,” Morgan said. “I have to thank my car owner Jason Glaude, my grandparents, Kim, Zach, Santino, my girlfriend Brittany, my spotter Bruce Sperry and Jake Christian.”
His sponsors include Aladjicare.com, Boxing for Fitness, Brooklyn Country View Restaurant, Larry’s Auto Machine and Nat’s Racing Engines.
Team Morgan is now getting ready for double features in one of the Speedbowl’s most competitive divisions. Morgan and his rivals Jason Palmer, Anthony Flannery and Tyler Chapman have been battling hard all season.
“It’s going to be interesting; I don’t know if I’ve ever participated in double features before,” Morgan said. I know it will be a big point night and obviously, you have to get through the first one to make it to the second one. But we’ll go out there, race hard and move on to the next one.”
Hard racing has been the trademark of the Late Models all season.
“Hopefully we’re giving the fans an exciting show,” Morgan said. “We’re racing hard, banging doors, but I can’t complain about it. To me, that’s what racing is all about. To be able to bang doors and not wreck.
“I did it years ago in the Legends when I raced against Palmer and Flannery. We raced side-by-side and who ever had the better car on that particular night won the race. And now that’s what we’re doing in the Late Models.”
The Morgan-Palmer rivalry goes back a long way.
“I finished second to him nine times one year in the Legends,” Morgan said. “Jason taught me everything I know about Legends. And then I raced with Flannery during my last year in a Legends. We race hard against each other, but we also respect each other.”
Morgan hopes to earn more respect Saturday.
“When you’re able to win a race and the car is as good as it can be, it’s a great day,” Morgan said.
Especially when you overcame adversity in order to do it.
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