Morgan Earns Third Consecutive Top-Five in USARacing Chase for the Championship; Moves into Second in Points with One Race to Go

*         **Morgan Earns Third Consecutive Top-Five in USARacing Chase for
the Championship; Moves into Second in Points with One Race to Go *





*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*



Rockingham, N.C. (October 10, 2009) – At the beginning of the 2009 USARacing
Pro Cup Series season, who would have thought that J.P. Morgan, in only his
second full year, would be knocking on the door to his first ever Series
Championship.  Well, after a win three weeks ago at Iowa Speedway, and his
third consecutive top-five finish in the Championship chase in Saturday’s
Aaron’s 150 presented by Black’s Tire and Auto Service at Rockingham
Speedway, that door is ready to be knocked down.



Morgan’s finish did not come without hard work by both the driver and the
crew early in the day.  After a 13th-place qualifying effort, the team had
to come down pit road to make a few changes before the green flag, forcing
them to start at the rear of the field.



“It was a trying day for us; the car wasn’t exactly right to begin with,”
commented Morgan.  “We had to come in during the parade laps to make a
couple of changes to the front end, which helped a lot.  We were able to
come up through the field, but had a couple of communication issues during a
pit stop.  We came back from that and as things cycled through, we ended the
day pretty decent.”



Morgan had a close call about halfway through the event when the machine of
A.J. Frank went up in smoke right in front of him.



“I wasn’t the first car behind him, but I was probably the one that got the
worst of it,” said Morgan.  “At least they knew where he was before he blew
up.  Everyone else scattered and I ended up right behind him, in the smoke.
He did a great job of keeping it in the middle and keeping it away from
everybody.  My hats off to him for that; that could have been a real mess.  I
just followed the smoke ‘til I could see a little glimpse of the wall, then
I just went on through.”



Morgan wheeled his Phil Morgan Pottery Chevrolet into the pits for a fresh
set of tires and removal of a windshield tear-off, which put him back to the
rear for the second time.  On the restart, Morgan looked as though he had
been shot out of a cannon, as he picked up nearly a position a lap, gaining
eight spots in eight laps, putting him in the fourth spot.



“We came in to get tires, and the car really came to life.  That last
section I was really driving hard.  It was really a lot of fun coming up
through the field like that.”



A late-race caution would put Morgan in a tough spot after running that hard
and thinking the race would finish under the green.  Morgan battled with the
cars of Lucas Ransone and Jeff Agnew, pulling off the fourth-place finish in
a three-wide battle to the checkered flag.



“I didn’t expect that last caution,” Morgan explained.  “I had pretty much
used up my tires thinking I had to make it to the front under the green. To
make matters worse, the cam-locks that hold the back of the hood came loose,
taking away most of the down force on the front and killing horsepower.  Even
with those problems, we ended up having a good three-wide battle with Lucas
and Jeff right at the end.  The last couple of laps were a lot of fun.”



Morgan’s fourth-place finish has now moved him up to second in points,
trailing the leader by just 43 points with one race to go.



“We are just going to have to stay on top of our game [at South Boston
Speedway], go there with the mindset of winning, and collect every bonus
point possible.  Whatever else comes with it, we’ll take it.  If it’s the
championship, then great.  If it’s not, then we’ll take our second [place
points finish] or wherever we come out and celebrate the end of a great
season.”



Morgan and the rest of the Pro Cup Series competitors will head to South
Boston [Va.] Speedway, where the season concludes on Oct. 31 and the series
champion will be crowned after the Strutmasters 250.



Phil Morgan Pottery is the proud sponsor of J&R Racing.  World Master Potter
Phil Morgan creates his famous crystalline glazed pottery using an ancient
and rare porcelain glazing technique.  His pieces have been featured in
national publications, presidential collections and museums around the
world.  Phil has appeared on ABC TV’s Good Morning America and on CTV's Good
Morning Canada.



For more information, log onto: www.philmorganpottery.org.



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EJK MEDIA
Erica Kron
Media & Public Relations
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