"Future Of The Sport: Raio Morgan"

For this week’s “Future Of The Sport” feature, we are going to introduce you to Raio Morgan. As has been the norm as of late, we are going to let her tell you about herself.

My name is Raio Morgan and I am 23 years old. I started my racing career at the age of 7 in a Quarter Midget. After 7 years in a quarter midget, a couple championships and over 100 wins I moved up to a Restricted 600 Micro.

My second year of restricted I won over half of the races I competed in, The Budweiser Outlaw Nations, the Summer Clash, as well as the points championship at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, California.

Soon after, I moved up to the most competitive class, Multi 600. I lived in Arizona, where I was attending high school and flew to California every weekend to race. This made it challenging to race for points, because I would miss a few races each season.

Earlier this month I competed at the Tulsa Shoot out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I made my first appearance here in roughly 2005 where I competed in restricted and finished 3rd in the A-Main. This year I competed in A Class and Outlaw.

In the A Class I started 6th in my heat and finished 2nd, started 2nd in my qualifier and fell back a spot to 3rd. Started 1st in the B main and won it and went on to the LCQ and flipped on the 2nd lap running 4th. That ended my journey in A Class.

In outlaw I won my heat race, and finished 3rd in my qualifier. I won the B main and finished 3rd in my LCQ. I started 19th in the Outlaw A main, being 1 of the only 2 girls to make the main. After 50 straight green flag laps, I ended up 14th in the A Main.

None of this would be possible with out the help and support of my family, friends and sponsors. I have to give a special thanks to the Salmon Family and Visalia Window Company for everything they do to make this opportunity possible.

I don't know where racing may take me but as of now I am planning on running a micro in the Multi class for my 2014 season. I will be running for points at Plaza Park Raceway and Lemoore Raceway and hopefully be traveling back to the shootout at the end of the year!

"Future Of The Sport: McKenna Haase"

 

For this weeks’ “Sprint Car Spotlight” we are going to introduce you to McKenna Haase! Keeping with the recent features, we are going to let McKenna tell you about herself since she did such an excellent job!

I first fell in love with racing when I attended my first race at Port City Raceway in Tulsa, OK when I was in the 3rd grade, and I was instantly hooked on the sport!

By 5th grade I began racing at a public go-kart track in Knoxville, IA called Slideways Karting Center where I ran in the weekly men’s league in 2008 and 2009. It was through Slideways Karting Center I discovered English Creek Speedway, a 1/6th mile outlaw sprint kart track south of Knoxville.

I received the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Box Stock outlaw kart in August of 2009 and roughly two weeks later I traveled to Oskaloosa, IA to pick up my first racecar.

I raced at English Creek Speedway in the Box Stock class in 2010 and 2011 before moving up to micro sprint cars in 2012. My first year racing micro sprints in 2012 I ran the Restrictor and Open/Outlaw classes at 6 different tracks in 4 different states, and in 2013 I raced in the A-Class and Open/Outlaw classes at 9 different tracks in 5 different states.

Racing all over the country has given me the opportunity to gain incredible experience and meet some amazing people! These past four years of racing I have been very blessed with incredible sponsors, fans, family, and support, and I am looking forward to what the future has in store as I work my way towards reaching my goal of racing sprint cars at Knoxville!

For more information about McKenna’s racing, check out her website at http://mckennahaase.webs.com!

"Sprint Car Spotlight: Shayla Waddell"

For This week's "Sprint Car Spotlight" feature, we are going to introduce you to Shayla Waddell!

Shayla Waddell is a 20-year old sprint car driver from Oklahoma City, OK.  Her father got her started racing in mini-sprints at 8 years old at a local track, I-44 Speedway.  Over the following years, the family traveled and she raced at several different tracks, winning quite a few races along with her younger sister, Savannah. 

After moving up to the Restrictor 600 class at I-44 Speedway in 2006 and winning a championship, she moved up to a 360 sprint car in 2008 at age 14.  She competed locally at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City and was Rookie of the Year, and won 2 A Features.  After State Fair Speedway shut down at the end of the 2009 season, the team started traveling with the Oil Capital Racing Series, OCRS, which travels around Oklahoma and surrounding states. 

Shayla finished in the top 10 in points with OCRS in 2010, 2011, and 2012, while also becoming the first female to win an OCRS A Main event.  The 2013 season was hit and miss as Shayla was focusing on school.  She attends Oklahoma City University full time as a Junior Business Major with a Chesapeake Presidential Scholarship, and has worked at the Federal Aviation Administration for three years as an Administrative Analyst.  The plans for 88s team in 2014 are to run the complete OCRS schedule, which includes wing and non-wing events.  Shayla has no experience in a non-wing car but is excited for the challenge! 

The racing operation would not be possible without the help of all of the support Shayla receives: her dad - Scott, PM Pro LLC, Nick Newton, Production Engine and Pump, Shores-Lift Solutions, Jaguar of OKC, TS Construction, Red Rock Distributing, and several others that help out every weekend. 

Shayla plans to continue racing as long as possible and to further her education at OCU.

"Sprint Car Spotlight: Kaitie O'Neal"

For this week’s “Sprint Car Spotlight”, we are going to introduce you to Kaitie O’Neal. Keeping with the recent theme, we are going to let Kaitie tell you about herself!

When you first look at me, being 5’3’’ and 100lbs you wouldn’t think I drive a racecar. My name is Kaitie O’Neal, from Bloomington, IN. I am currently just a few weeks shy of my 21st birthday.

Racing is a family oriented sport for me. We spend all weekend at the track not just with me but my little brother Hunter as well. He is also currently running 410 non-wing sprint car. The competition around my house can be intense sometimes.

I started her racing career at the age of twelve, racing go-karts before moving up to micro-sprints the following year. After moving up to micro-sprints I was offered the opportunity to test in a non-wing 600cc mini-sprint. The following year I traded in my micro-sprint for a mini-sprint. After a few seasons in the mini-sprint, I was offered the opportunity to fulfill my lifelong dream to drive a full-size 410 non-wing sprint car for G&J Motorsports out of Terre Haute, IN.

I am currently in a transition period for the upcoming season. I will be piloting a new ride, the number 23 non-wing 410 sprint car for Hickman Racing out of Martinsville, IN. I raced the car at select races in 2013.

Her Supporters Include:

• Aerofab
• Circle Track Designs
• Extreme Oxygen Products
• Lucas Oil
• Modern Powder Coating

"Future Of The Sport: Hannah Adair"

For our first "Future Of The Sport" feature of 2014, we are going to introduce you to Hannah Adair! We elected to feature Hannah this week because she will be competing at the Tulsa Shootout this weekend. Keeping with the theme we have followed in past features, Hannah did such an awesome job composing her bio, we are going to let her tell you about herself!

I am Hannah Adair, 19, and I am from Tulsa, OK and race 600cc Micro-Sprint Cars and Midgets. I started racing in 2004, in the 100cc Jr. Sprint class. I finished 2nd in points my Rookie year at my home track, Port City Raceway in Tulsa. 

In 2005, I raced with NMMA for National Points where I finished 9th in National points, out of over 75 other drivers, 3rd at the NMMA National race, where over 80 cars competed, and 3rd at the NMMA Centrals race and claimed over 15 wins that year. 

In 2006, I moved to 600cc Micro-Sprint cars in a class called Restrictor. In my first practice, I was put head on into the wall at full speed, and ended up with a compressed fracture in my back, and I was unable to race for 16 weeks. I came back to racing with a few weeks left, and in my first race back, I won my heat race, and finished in the top 10 in the A Feature. In 2007, 2008, 2009, I ran Restrictor again, and won many features. I finished 4th in points in 2007, we didn't run for points in 2008, and finished 2nd in points, and lost the championship by 2 points, in 2009. 

In 2010, I ran the Tulsa Shootout for the first time, which is the toughest Micro-Sprint Car race in the country.  I started 4th in my heat race, and finished 2nd, which locked me in for the A Feature. I started 11th in the A Feature, and was taken out on the first lap. I was put to dead last, 24th, and drove my way back to 8th in 20 laps. In 2010, I moved up to A-Class 600cc Micro-Sprint Cars where I made history at the Non-Wing Nationals by becoming the first female to win both of my heat races and finish in the top ten both nights and finished 3rd in points that year. 

 In 2011, we moved up to the toughest Micro-Sprint Car class called Outlaw where I finished 2nd in points and won Rookie of the Year at Port City and finished in the top 5 or top 10 every week.

In 2012 I continued racing the Outlaw class with a brand new car and motor. We had many struggles, but I continued to keep my head up and try my hardest each week. We were constantly in the top ten with a few top fives and top threes. I missed 6 races at Port City Raceway due to other races, and I ended the season with a strong 6th place finish in the Championship Points.

At the end of 2012, I was given the chance to race The Battle at the Center and The 2013 Chili Bowl Nationals with McCreery Motorsports, where I had to raise $5,000 to be able to race. Thanks to many sponsors, I was able to live my dream of racing The Chili Bowl. These races would be my first in a midget. At The Battle at the Center, I was only able to complete 8 laps due to mechanical failures. At The Chili Bowl Nationals, my qualifying night was on Wednesday. I drew a 65, which put me starting 6th in the heat race, and I finished 5th. That put me into the A Qualifier, where I started 9th and finished 6th. I then started 4th in the B Feature and we got a horrible start, which put me back to 9th, and I needed a top 4 to transfer into the A Feature. I battled my way back to the front, where I passed for 4th on the last lap, but came up half a car length short of making the A Feature. On Saturday night, I started on the Pole of the E feature (the features went all the way to the K Feature), where I led every lap, but got beat by just a few inches. I then started 14th in the D Feature, got in a wreck on the first lap and restarted 17th, and finished 13th.

In 2013, we had a very up and down year. We managed many top 2 finishes and we were in the top 5 and top 10 each week. We missed 4 races at Port City Raceway and managed to finish 8th in the championship points due to our consistency of running up front. 

In 2014, we will be running a Midget around Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana with POWRi and USAC Midget series.