John Morton (racing driver)

{{Short description|American racing driver (born 1942)}} {{BLP sources|date=January 2011}} '''John Morton''' (born February 17, 1942) is an [[Americans|American]] racing driver from [[Waukegan, Illinois]].

== Early life == After his father took him to a race at [[Road America]] in 1957, Morton became an avid racing fan. He went on to race jalopies in South Carolina before he dropped out of [[Clemson University]] to attend Carroll Shelby's racing school at Riverside Raceway in California. Taking a menial job working in [[Carroll Shelby]]'s race shop [[Shelby American]] in Venice California, Morton saved his money to purchase his first race car, a [[Lotus Seven|Lotus Super 7]] which he raced in SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) amateur races in 1963.

== Career == In 1964, Morton drove with [[Ken Miles]] at [[Sebring Raceway|Sebring]] in the prototype [[Shelby Cobra|427 Cobra]] CSX2196, aka "The Turd" for Shelby American Racing. Originally, Morton had no intention to race that weekend, but Miles asked him to be a reserve driver. Lacking a FIA [[Federation Internationale de l'Automobile]] license Miles wrote a letter of recommendation to the race sanctioning body on the spot.<ref>Lerner, Preston (2022) Shelby American. Austin TX: Octane Press. ISBN 978-1-64234-121-8</ref> Teaming with Miles and Skip Scott, Morton won the GT class at the [[Road America]] 500, second overall, in a team Cobra. That year, he bought his second race car, a [[Lotus 23B]].

Morton raced mostly SCCA Club races through 1968 until [[Pete Brock|Peter Brock]] (the American designer, motorsports writer and photographer, not the [[Peter Brock|Australian racer]]) hired him for his new BRE [[Datsun]] team. The period between 1969 and 1972 was fruitful for John, Peter and Datsun. The team disbanded after the 1972 season after dominating both SCCA C Production with the [[Datsun 240Z|240Z]] (National Championships in 1970-71) and the 2.5 [[Trans-Am]] with the [[Nissan 510|510]] in 1971-72.

Racing in [[Formula 5000|F5000]], [[Can-Am]] and [[International Motor Sports Association|IMSA]] occupied the next few years. A short almost accidental foray into the movie industry in 1975 led to stunt work on films, including Gumball Rally and Greased Lightning; and several TV shows, including ''[[The Rockford Files]]'' and ''[[Fantasy Island]]''. In 1981, Phil Conte joined Morton's small Can-Am team as a sponsor for two years after which Phil formed his own IMSA team with John as one of his two drivers in the GTP category.

In 1985, Jim Busby hired Morton as team driver in one of his BF Goodrich sponsored [[Porsche 962]]s with [[Pete Halsmer]]. The pair won the Times GP at [[Riverside International Raceway|Riverside]] in 1985. In 1987, Morton drove for the Group 44 Jaguar team of [[Bob Tullius]] and won the last Times GP at Riverside and the West Palm Beach GP, both sharing the car with [[Hurley Haywood]]. The Walkinshaw team replaced Tullius' Jaguar team for 1988 and the Electramotive Nissan Team signed Morton. Morton and [[Geoff Brabham]] won several races that year setting the stage for Nissan's domination of the IMSA series for several years.

Other notable Nissan races for Morton during 1989–95 include an overall victory at [[12 Hours of Sebring|Sebring]] and several class wins, including [[24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans]]. Morton was third overall in a Joest Porsche in 1986 and class winner in a BFG Mazda Lola in 1984, competing nine times at Le Mans. Several races in various other classes and categories include Sprint cars and karts. He made his CART debut in the first race of the 1984 season at the [[Long Beach Grand Prix]] and finished 9th but was never able to get a ride in competitive car.

In his most recent professional races, 1997–2001, Morton raced Porsches in both the Grand Am [[Rolex Sports Car Series]] and [[American Le Mans Series]]. Currently most of John's competition is in vintage races driving a variety of cars, which include Cobra coupes, Corvettes, Porsches, and a Sunbeam Tiger.

Morton has competed at the [[Monterey Historic Automobile Races]] many times. In 2010, he suffered a crash when his [[Scarab (constructor)|Scarab]] flipped end-over-end near turn two of [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca]], landing upside down with a broken roll bar. He was taken to the hospital, and was determined to be fine. The Scarab was seriously damaged, but it was rebuilt and restored to original specifications and recently won the Amelia Island Concours.

In 2013, the Sports Car Club of America held the 50th Running of the National Runoffs. Because of this, momentous event special rules were in place to allow former champions to enter the event without running any of that season's qualifying events. Bonk Brothers Racing and LNA Enterprises prepared a Nissan 240Z for Morton to run at the event. Due to poor weather he was only able to have 2 sessions in the car. He was able to qualify 13th and finish 10th.

In 2013, Motorbooks published Morton’s first person account: “Inside Shelby American - Wrenching and Racing with Carroll Shelby in the 1960s."

In 2026, Morton was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

==Racing record==

===SCCA National Championship Runoffs===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year !! Track !! Car !! Engine !! Class !! Finish !! Start !! Status |- | 1968 || [[Riverside Raceway|Riverside]] || [[Lotus Cars|Lotus]] || [[Porsche]] || B Sports Racer || 4 || || Running |- | 1969 || [[Daytona International Raceway|Daytona]] || [[Datsun Sports#SR311/SRL311|Datsun SRL311]] || [[Datsun]] || D Production || 15 || 2 || Retired |- | 1970 || [[Road Atlanta]] || [[Nissan 240Z]] || [[Nissan]] || C Production ||style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1 || 1 || Running |- | 1971 || [[Road Atlanta]] || [[Nissan 240Z]] || [[Nissan]] || C Production ||style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1 || 1 || Running |- | 2013 || [[Road America]] || [[Nissan 240Z]] || [[Nissan]] || E Production || 10 || 13 || Running <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scca.com/pages/runoffs-archive|title=Runoffs Archives|date=22 November 2023 }}</ref> |}

===24 Hours of Le Mans results=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year ! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class Pos.|Class Position}} |- ! [[1979 24 Hours of Le Mans|1979]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} Interscope Racing |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ted Field]] {{flagicon|USA}} Milt Minter |align="left"| [[Porsche 935|Porsche 935/79]] | IMSA GTX | 154 | DNF | DNF |- ! [[1981 24 Hours of Le Mans|1981]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[North American Racing Team]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Alain Cudini]] {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Philippe Gurdjian]] |align="left"| [[Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer|Ferrari 512BB/LM]] | IMSA GTX | 247 | DNF | DNF |- ! [[1982 24 Hours of Le Mans|1982]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[North American Racing Team]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Alain Cudini]] {{flagicon|USA}} [[John Paul Sr. (racing driver)|John Paul Sr.]] |align="left"| [[Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer|Ferrari 512BB/LM]] | IMSA GTX | 306 | 9th | 4th |- ! [[1984 24 Hours of Le Mans|1984]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Goodrich Corporation|B. F. Goodrich Company]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|JPN}} [[Yoshimi Katayama]] {{flagicon|USA}} John O'Steen |align="left"| [[Lola T616]]-[[Mazda]] | C2 | 320 | 10th |style="background:#FFFFBF;"| '''1st''' |- ! [[1986 24 Hours of Le Mans|1986]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|DEU}} [[Joest Racing]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[George Follmer]] {{flagicon|USA}} Kenper Miller |align="left"| [[Porsche 956]] | C1 | 355 |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| '''3rd''' |style="background:#FFDF9F;"| '''3rd''' |- ! [[1994 24 Hours of Le Mans|1994]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} Cunningham Racing |align="left"| {{flagicon|NZL}} [[Steve Millen]] {{flagicon|USA}} [[Johnny O'Connell]] |align="left"| [[Nissan 300ZX|Nissan 300ZX Turbo]] | IMSA GTS | 317 | 5th |style="background:#FFFFBF;"| '''1st''' |- ! [[1996 24 Hours of Le Mans|1996]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} Canaska Southwind Motorsport |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Alain Cudini]] {{flagicon|CAN}} Victor Sifton |align="left"| [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]] | LMGT1 | 269 | 23rd | 14th |- ! [[1997 24 Hours of Le Mans|1997]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Oreca|Société Viper Team Oreca]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Justin Bell]] {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Pierre Yver]] |align="left"| [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]] | LMGT2 | 278 | 14th | 6th |- ! [[1998 24 Hours of Le Mans|1998]] |align="left"| {{flagicon|CAN}} CJ Motorsport |align="left"| {{flagicon|CAN}} [[John Graham (racing driver)|John Graham]] {{flagicon|DEU}} [[Harald Grohs]] |align="left"| [[Porsche 911 GT2]] | LMGT2 | 164 | DNF | DNF |}

====Indy Car World Series==== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" ! Year ! Team ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! 16 ! 17 ! Rank ! Points ! Ref |- | rowspan="2" | [[1984 CART PPG Indy Car World Series|1984]] ! BCV Racing |style="background:#CFEAFF;"|[[Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach|LBH]] {{small|9}} |[[XM Satellite Radio Indy 200|PHX1]] |[[1984 Indianapolis 500|INDY]] |[[ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225|MIL]] |[[Grand Prix of Portland|POR]] |[[Meadowlands Sports Complex#Auto racing|MEA]] |[[Grand Prix of Cleveland|CLE]] |[[Firestone Indy 400|MIS1]] |[[Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America|ROA]] | | | | | | | | |rowspan="2" style="background:#CFCFFF;"|'''35th''' |rowspan="2" style="background:#CFCFFF;"|'''5''' !rowspan="2" |<ref>{{cite web|url=https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/mortojo01/1984/R|title=John Morton – 1984 CART Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref> |- ! Jet Engineering | | | | | | | | | |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|[[Pocono 500 (Indycar)|POC]] {{small|20}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|[[Honda 200|MDO]] {{small|26}} |[[Sanair Super Speedway|SAN]] |[[Firestone Indy 400|MIS2]] |style="background:#FFCFCF;"|[[XM Satellite Radio Indy 200|PHX2]] {{small|DNQ}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;"|[[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca#CART/Champ Car|LAG]] {{small|17}} |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|[[Vegas Grand Prix|LVG]] {{small|12}} | |- | [[1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series|1986]] ! Gohr Racing |PHX1 |LBH |[[1986 Indianapolis 500|INDY]] |MIL |POR |MEA |CLE |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|TOR {{small|12}} |MIS1 |POC |MDO |SAN |MIS2 |ROA |LAG |PHX2 |MIA |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|'''35th''' |style="background:#CFCFFF;"|'''1''' !<ref>{{cite web|url=https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/mortojo01/1986/R|title=John Morton – 1986 CART Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref> |- | [[1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series|1990]] ! Gohr Racing | [[XM Satellite Radio Indy 200|PHX]] | [[Grand Prix of Long Beach|LBH]] | [[1990 Indianapolis 500|INDY]] | [[Milwaukee IndyFest|MIL]] |style="background:#FFCFCF;"| [[Detroit Indy Grand Prix|DET]] {{small|DNQ}} | [[Grand Prix of Portland|POR]] | [[Grand Prix of Cleveland|CLE]] | [[Meadowlands Grand Prix|MEA]] | [[Honda Indy Toronto|TOR]] | [[Firestone Indy 400|MCH]] | [[Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver|DEN]] | [[Molson Indy Vancouver|VAN]] | [[Honda Indy 200|MDO]] | [[Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America|ROA]] | [[Firestone Indy 225|NAZ]] | [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca|LAG]] | | '''NR''' | '''0''' !<ref>{{cite web|url=https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/mortojo01/1990/R|title=John Morton – 1990 CART Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref> |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *[http://www.johnmortonracing.com/ John Morton Racing] {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, John}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:Champ Car drivers]] [[Category:Trans-Am Series drivers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers]] [[Category:American Le Mans Series drivers]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Waukegan, Illinois]] [[Category:Racing drivers from Illinois]] [[Category:World Sportscar Championship drivers]] [[Category:SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers]] [[Category:SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners]] [[Category:12 Hours of Sebring drivers]] [[Category:Oreca drivers]] [[Category:Team Joest drivers]] [[Category:24 Hours of Daytona drivers]] [[Category:IMSA GT Championship drivers]] [[Category:Petit Le Mans drivers]]