From St. Petersburg , Florida Eric Morrison and his Blown Alcohol Dodge Avenger F/C
When Eric was bracket racing a he noticed few Nostalgia Funny Cars started showing up at Bradenton , From that point on he was hooked. He said he had to own a Funny Car. And as soon as possible he made plans to sell his truck and acquire a Funny Car body chassis .
When Eric purchased his new chassis it came with a 1933 Bantam body. He ran it like that for a while and later on installed a 1986 Mustang Body that he purchased from Larry Reep in Austin ,TX.
He ran the car in the "Dixie Classic Funny Car Series" in a naturally aspirated configuration for a year until he built a blown & injected Chevy on alcohol. He also employed a Powerglide for the shifting duties.
Eric stated he ran with that group at tracks throughout the South East.
At that time other car owners took notice of Eric's driving abilities , Which led him to drive for another team briefly. He was able to get their car down the track much quicker then the two other drivers ever could.
He earned the nickname "Fast Kid" after a 7.65 155 MPH run with an early shutoff , not bad for a moderate license run !
That car was running a blown alcohol Small Block Chevrolet with a Powerglide .
He did some gigs with Artie Allen and his A/Fuel Dragster for several years , and toured with Mark Billington for two seasons before he was the lead crew member for Charlie Gambino's alcohol Funny Car.
A chance meeting with Mark Jones,a local racer who had a Blown Alcohol Hemi Altered with a Lenco 3 speed,led to a long friendship,and he went on to become crew member for him as well.
Eric also crewed for Team Leverich on their Top Fuel Dragster at a couple of events durring the Gatornationals, including the 2020 season.
In 2016 after selling his first Funny Car , he had a chance to purchase his current Funny Car . It is a 1996 Hadman chassis with a 2000 Dodge Avenger body.
Eric and Mark started collecting Hemi parts and they had the new car running by January 2019. At Bradenton , Eric earned his Advanced ET license with a 4.58 in the 1/8th mile in October 2020.
Eric thanks his sponsors , Goodson , Permatex & CP Carillo
But he is always looking for more. Tell him you you read about him here .
You can reach Eric at: morrisone84@gmail.com
Here we can see Eric representing his sponsors while working on the big Hemi .
Some specs on the car include:
1996 Brad Hadman 125" chassis.
2000 carbon fiber Dodge Avenger body.
1996 496 TFX Hemi.
Lenco 3 speed trans.
Crower 10.7 3 disk clutch.
Littlefield 14/71 high Helix Supercharger.
Fab 9 rear end with Chrisman axles.
Photo's courtesy of Eric Morrison. 2020
The finished chassis is ready to go for 2021.
We look forward to updating Eric's story as the team progress in 2021 !
Here's Eric making a pass ! Turn it up !
July 4th ,2021 Summer team update !
Our goals for 2021 are as follows:
New tow vehicle:
To be able to safely travel out of state and provide the image that we want for our team and sponsors it was time to replace our tow vehicle which we did.
Compete at at least one event, We are targeting a Funny Car Chaos.
In order to do so we had to upgrade a lot of areas:
>All safety equipment sent out to be certified.
>New Fire-suit.
Increase Performance, consistency and reliability:
Also we wanted to upgrade our performance so we would be solidly running low 4’s / high 3’s in the ⅛ mile, 6’s in the ¼ mile. To do so with consistency, we knew we needed to install our Racepak computer. Starting last year and into this year we got ourselves educated on how to use it, got a dedicated laptop, got the unit operating and recording data.
We also acquired the Davenport JET-SIZE Jet/Weather/Fuel System Calculation
software program for our laptop and with the help of tuner extraordinaire Sean Brown and many hours of studying learned how to effectively use it.
We also purchased brand new Hoosier racing tires, tubes and liners selected specifically for our combination. This was also an investment in safety.
We invested in new GRP connecting rods and by doing so established an important relationship with Randy Anderson's Advanced performance Systems.
Quarter Mile licensing runs. Currently I have 3 left with one moderate and two full runs. Then I will receive my 1/4 mile license for Advanced ET. This would allow me to go as quick as 6.00 in the ¼ mile.
● Attend PRI show 2021!
Other fun stuff:
We have added on new crew members John Tillman and Nate Johnson who are capable, dedicated and enthusiastic men. They have made a big difference in enabling me to oversee operations and assist hands on where needed while they are being trained for specific duties as well as expanding their overall familiarity with the car itself and racing the car.
Wally and I are proud to have them and appreciative of their contributions to the team! Thanks to John and Wally we will be adding Go Pros on the car for our next run and Johns experience with social media will help us take our team and Sponsors Goodson, Permatex and Browell to the next level in media exposure.
In closing we are excited about the second half of this year.
Tomorrow we will be having Aryon Rochon the 2020 NHRA Top Alcohol Winternationals champ in the shop for a lesson in his and Frank Manzos methods of changing connecting rods.
Although Wally and I both have experience in this area, this will add more top shelf experience to the team as we pay attention and take notes.
All the best from team ERIC MORRISON RACING!
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