Devon Morgan’s fantastic 2022 campaign continued Saturday in the World Short Track Championships located at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Dirt Track.
Despite facing heavy odds from the start of his heat race, Morgan persevered through the adversity and drove up to the front of the field in the main event to add a World Short Track Championships victory to his growing resume.
Morgan had always wanted to claim a win at Charlotte’s dirt track ever since his racing career began. Accomplishing that feat on Saturday proved to be more nerve wracking for Morgan than he initially anticipated, but that only made his victory even more rewarding.
“It means a lot to win this race,” Morgan said. “We ran the [World Short Track Championships] in 2018, 2019 and 2020, so to come back this year driving for Mitchell Henderson in the Street Stock and get the win means so much. Charlotte had such an unreal atmosphere this weekend with so many great cars, but just having the opportunity to race there is unreal.”
A random draw ended up determining the lineups for each heat in the World Short Track Championships. Morgan selected the number 54 on his draw, which placed him seventh in his heat race.
Morgan was not going to let the circumstances deter his confidence and he proceeded to climb his way to third by the time the checkered flag flew. That effort ultimately put Morgan 11th on the grid for the Street Stock feature.
Once the green flag was displayed in the main event, Morgan managed to find a rhythm on the bottom groove and methodically worked his way into the Top 5 before taking control of the race during its closing stages to earn one of the biggest victories of his career to date.
Morgan relied on his experience across different disciplines of dirt racing to stay composed and put himself in a great position to win.
“I knew we were going to be pretty good since I felt we had one of the best cars all weekend,” Morgan said. “With so many fast cars starting up ahead of us, I initially wasn’t sure if we were going to win, but I made up a lot of ground on the bottom. Once we reached the halfway point, I knew I had a shot, so I kept my head down and kept digging on the bottom.”
The win in the World Short Track Championships is one of many highlights for Morgan this year. Along with claiming a checkered flag in the Dash for Cash championship at Hartwell Speedway, Morgan also joined Coltman Farms Racing as a driver for the team’s Limited Late Model program.
For Morgan, the 2022 season has been about enjoying the moment and improving after each race. He feels confident about his current trajectory in dirt racing and looks to build upon his triumph in the World Short Track Championships.
“It feels great to have a year like this, especially after the one we had last year,” Morgan said. “I feel like I’m on top of the world, but I’m taking everything on a race-to-race basis. We want to stay on top of the world and we’re hoping to carry over this momentum into the next race.”
Morgan is not sure of when his next race will be, but he plans to assist Coltman Farms Racing teammates for the World Finals at Charlotte’s Dirt Track. He also hopes to contest the Georgia State Championships at Lavonia Speedway.
Devon Morgan would like to thank his mom, dad, crew, his fans, Mitchell Henderson, Coltman Farms Racing, MPM Marketing and all his sponsors in Jiffy Lube, ML Performance, KRC Power Steering, Team SRI Motorsports, Morgan Motor Company Inc., AutoBank & RV Sales, Strange Oval, FK Rod Ends, Acrylics Plus LLC, Buffalo Grill of Greenwood, Stevens Towing & Recovery, Jimmy’s Family Restaurant, Seymore Towing, Meredith Battery, Armour Metals, RAC 4×4 Off Road, Masters Performance, Franklin Enterprise, Done Right Construction, Wiley X and Chicken Bone Alley.