Darren Morgan is very proud of the fact that he and his crew are based in Mildura, Victoria. He was once told that he would never succeed in Top Fuel because of his country location. About the only thing this achieved was to make him more determined to succeed and win.
The pinnacle of drag racing success is winning a championship. In the case of Morgan he can hold his head high knowing he has done that – not once, but four times in his career.
Last month the DMR/American Truck Works dragster took out the Fuchs Nitro Thunder presented by Crow Cams Top Fuel round at Calder Park and secured his third straight ANDRA championship. All that was required to make it official was to stage the Victorian American Imports dragster in Sydney during qualifying, accept the green light and celebrate.
Morgan could have easily stayed in the pits after the first qualifier to save parts and money, but he was there to win the event and hopefully double up with two ANDRA gold Christmas tree trophies.
“We are here for our fans, supporters, and our sponsors. And besides there is still a race to win,” grinned Morgan.
Eliminations saw one of the biggest Top Fuel fields of the season with eight teams fronting for round one. Morgan tried hard against his opponent Tommy Johnson Jr and while it was a close run, the DMR/Victorian American Imports Top Fuel dragster fell short by .08 of a second.
“Overall it was a successful weekend with another championship win and a successful corporate outing for DMR and the L&H Company – a leading industrial supplier of quality electrical, lighting, heating and cooling, and ventilation components,” Morgan said.
“I’m very thankful to my hard working crew. I know how hard they work and I am especially proud to be working on the car alongside my 17-year-old son Will.
“We didn’t have a lot of time between Melbourne and Sydney rounds so I’m thankful for the team’s time and dedication.
“I’m so lucky to have Ben calling the shots, he does an excellent job. We were able to test a few things in Sydney and I can say that they definitely worked.”
“Having L&H and 100 corporate guests was a huge undertaking. It was all about them on Saturday. They put their toes in the water at the Nitro Champs back in May and at the Nationals we gave them the full ANDRA Championship drag racing experience. It was up close and personal, and judging from the smiles I saw, I’d say they really enjoyed themselves too.
The first outing of the 2014 ANDRA Top Fuel Championship fires up in Perth on January 10 and 11.