2016 Bandit Races

Anderson Motor Speedway

The first Bandit Race was held July 30th at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, SC. Morgan drew a 5th place start in a field of 9 trucks for the first race (marked bottle caps from a box). He moved up to 4th in the first lap and 2nd in the second lap behind Ricky Rude's #14. By the seventh lap they were lapping other trucks, some of which tried to block Morgan. During the 12th lap Morgan was passing low in Turn 3 when red #63 pulled into him and spun out.

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leading

In spite of the crash Mogan's #88 continued to race, although a caution was quickly called with #63 sitting backwards on the track minus some parts. With the restart Morgan pulled past Rude's #14 to move into 1st place. Although he hit the outside wall in Turn 2 during the fifteenth lap, Morgan continued racing all twenty laps, finishing in 1st place for the inaugural race of the Bandit Big Rig Race Series!

Morgan first place

The second Bandit race of the evening was twenty-five laps long with the start order inverted from the previous finish, ie. Morgan started last (9th). By the third lap #88 was in 6th, then fifth in the next lap and 4th in the lap after that. In the sixth lap Morgan's #88 moved into 2nd behind Rude's #14 and stayed there until the 25 lap race finished.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway

The next Bandit event attended by Team #88-Mike was on August 6 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. The first race of 15 laps (10 trucks) began with Morgan on the outside of the front row (2nd). He pulled out in front during the first lap and was ahead of the big crash. On the first turn of the second lap Aaron Kaufman in #54 locked up his rear brakes and spun with Justin Ball in #17 giving him a very hard hit; Scott Treadway in #4 and Darren Proffitt in #26 plowed into the wreckage. The race stopped while the carnage was cleared. When racing continued Morgan kept his lead for a few laps but was passed by Rick Proffitt in #14. In the last lap #3 hit #88 especially hard, spun, then went into the wall of Turn 1 hard. Morgan finished in 2nd place behind Ricky Proffitt's #14.

The second race of 25 laps began with Morgan 7th of eight trucks. Morgan worked his way up through the pack along with Robbie Decker in #73. Then in the 23rd lap Morgan made contact with Decker sending him spinning. Morgan finished in 3rd behind Rick Proffitt in #14 (1st) and Chris Kikelhan in #31 (2nd).

Crisp Motorsports Park

The last Bandit Race of 2016 was held at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, GA on November 5th. Mackvader finished 2nd in his heat race of five trucks. In the feature race Morgan started in 5th, moved up to 2nd in the first lap, then the left rear wheel was nailed by #17 as he attempted to pass #88. The rim shattered and the tire went over the outside wall. This spun #88 sideways in front of #17. The #88 then did a complete spin before heading in under caution. Once in the pit the missing tire and destroyed rim were replaced and Morgan returned to the track in time to finish the race in ninth place.

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