Family Honors Mike Morris, Tri-Five Racing Tradition at Beech Bend: “He’s With Me!”

Racing with Mike. The steady hands and heavy foot of championship winning drag racer, Mike Morris, no longer pilot his beloved 1957 Chevy. Two of Mike’s brothers, Red and Frankie Morris, along with Mike’s son, Darren, made sure that the family tradition of racing continues in his memory. Mike Morris, passed away at 75 years old on June 10. Mike’s son, Darren, took over driving duties of the ’57 Chevy at the Tri-Five Nationals in August and was back at the Bowling Green, Kentucky track for LS Fest East in early September. A memorial hangs on the dash of the ’57 Chevy and a framed photo of Mike is mounted on the passenger seat of his brother’s ’55 Chevy. His brother, Red, says it will never leave the seat. Mike's photo was in the seat when Red took home the trophy at this year’s Tri-Five Nationals. As the eldest of eleven, Mike Morris, showed the family the ropes in drag racing and winning with a Chevy he bought in 1966.

Mike bought the ’57 for $100 when he was a teen and raced it hundreds if not thousand of quarter-mile passes during his nearly 60 years of ownership. Mike was last year’s Tri-Five Nationals Grand Champion, the event’s first ever, and a five-time national event winner on the NHRA Stock and Super Stock circuit. The turquoise ’57 frequented the track at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the LS Fest East and Tri-Five Nats each year. The Morris family plans to keep racing and carry on the tradition with Mike’s young grand daughter Nova Morris. 

Jody Potter
– Junkyard Life: The Story Beneath the Rust

Mike Morris won multiple title racing his 1957 Chevy that he bought in 1966. His family races on in his memory after his passing in July.

The turquoise 1957 Chevy looks more like a show car than a race car. A testament to the dedicated racer who loved the car he bought in 1966.

“Old Habits” was the name Mike Morris put on his 1957 Chevy.

Red Morris' orange and white 1955 Chevy is shown lined up in lane next to the 1957 at Beech Bend Raceway for LS Fest East.

Mike Morris Memorial Decal honors the brother and father who led the family into a racing tradition.

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