Bump And Run
Jeff Morton's
driving career
got a little bumpy
during last month's
Detroit Grand Prix.
JEFF LESSON
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Auto racing can be a
hazardous sport, as
many drivers discov-
ered during the
recent accident-filled
Detroit Grand Prix.
But for 32-year-
old Jeff Morton, a
lifelong interest in
fast cars may have kept
him away from far
greater dangers — even
though he, too, suffered
a few bruises during the
June race.
Morton's love affair
with cars and speed
began at age 5 when his
father, Gerald, took Jeff
to the Waterford Hills
race track. But his path
to professional racing
really began at age 13.
Shortly after his bar
mitzvah, Morton's moth-
er, Sue, died of cancer.
He recalls being vulnera-
ble and open to some
potentially negative
influences, including
drugs. But Gerald
Morton bought his son a
beat-up MG for $50 and
let him restore it.
Working on the car
helped to "fill a void" in
his life, Morton says.
And rather then turn to
drinking or drugs, "I
turned to cars and ath-
letics."
Today, car repair and
maintenance is Morton's
business. He owns two
companies, both located
in Pontiac — Winner's
Circle Professional Auto
Service, an auto repair
shop, and Corvette's,
Inc., which restores and
does maintenance on
Corvettes.
In 1.986, Morton took
his first big step into rac-
ing by attending a three-
day program at the
Spenard David Racing
School in Shannonville,
Ont.
The school offered a
series of competitions for
its drivers — sort of a
"Star Search" for racing
talent — which Morton
entered. He won several
competitions, earning
him an all-expenses paid
season of 10 races in
1988. Morton placed fifth
in the series, but was the
top rookie driver, win-
ning him another free
ride in the school's more
advanced professional
series in 1989.
During that season,
Morton suffered his first
major racing crash. But
it did not deter him.
"To me, there's not a
better feeling in the
world than having your
butt an inch off the
ground and hugging a
corner at 130, 140 miles
per hour, and being in
control," Morton said.
"There's a line between
risk and responsibility
and you have to find that
line and stay within that
line. And it's awesome to
be there. It's like you're
in control of this horse-
power, this machine, and
it's you against the track
and 28 drivers.
"And it's not like foot-
ball or baseball, where
you have a team of play-
ers. It's you. You're in
there. You're hitting the
brakes. You're going into
the corners as deep as
your guts will let you
before you hit the brake.
It's incredible. You have .
to get in a car and feel it
to understand it. And it's
an addiction. Once you
get a taste of it, you have
to have it."
Despite all the posi-
tives, Morton acknowl-
edges the dangers of rac-
ing. "I don't think you'll
ever meet a race car dri-
ver who says he's not
afraid... But when you're
in the car you don't think
about it.
"In a race car, if You go
into a slide or you know
you're going to start to
spin, all my mind thinks
about is slowing the car
down and getting it
stopped, and trying to
pull out of the spin.
"It's like when I hit the
wall at the Grand Prix. I
hit the wall at about 165
miles per hour. When I
hit the wall, I didn't '
scream. I went, "Oh, s---
this is going to hurt.'"
Morton, who lives in
West Bloomfield, said his
wife, Krista, is "support- ,°2
ive" off his racing. "I'm
sure she has a fear of me
getting hurt," he said,
"but she doesn't tell me
about it."
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