MORTON PICKS UP VERY FIRST IHRA CAREER PRO STOCK WIN! GRAND BEND, ONTARIO - Elijah Morton of Jacksonville, NC made history on Sunday, June 13th by earning his very first IHRA Sunoco Pro Stock Fuels win at the fifth annual Mopar Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol at Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario, Canada! The "Rising Storm" damaged the original motor scheduled to campaign this season at the last event in Virginia. Time constraints held the team back from getting that motor back in the car going into Canada. Team Morton MotorSports used the back-up engine (Big Sexy) to dominate some twenty-one competitors all weekend long! After three qualifying rounds, Morton, the Trucking Company owner was seated second in the qualifying order with a very impressive 6.501 at over 213 mph! In the very first round, Morton laid waste to Dwayne Rice's Cavalier. Although he drifted towards the center line he still popped up the win light with a 6.568 @ over 211 mph to the loosing 6.59 by Rice. Elijah lost lane choice to Frank Gugliotta in the second round but tire shake and a later reaction by Frank gave the easy win to Morton with a 6.612 @ over 210 mph. Morton was surely on-key with his sharp .046 reaction time. Morton pulled off a small come-from-behind win in his semi-final match-up with Rick Jones. Jones representing the event sponsor (Mopar) took a very slight starting line advantage and actually led up to the 330 ft. mark. "The Ponies Would Not Have It"! Morton's "Rising Storm" powered by "Big Sexy" dug in hard to take the big "W" on the scoreboard with a 6.551 @ over 210 mph to the loosing 6.57 of Rick Jones. The clash of the titans came down in the finals! Morton faced Brian Gaham, the 2003 World Champion. The most beautiful car on the whole property again pulled off a come-from-behind-win after Gaham jumped the light a little better that Morton with a .030 reaction time to Morton's .081. Elijah's car used 1320 ft. to catch the world champ with an incredible 6.557 @ 210.67 mph win! Gaham lost this time around with a 6.613. "The Rising Storm's" margin of victory at the finish line was a mere 21 inches!! With this win, Morton moves back into 3rd in the 2004 Hooters Series Points Standings. Photos Courtesy : IHRA.com Gallery by Roger Richards