RYNO Spotlights Funny Car Racer Eric Morrison of Tampa, Florida

August 26th, 2021 Chris Phillip
RYNO Spotlights Funny Car Racer Eric Morrison of Tampa, Florida
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This week, we turn the spotlight on Eric Morrison, a funny car racer from Tampa Bay, Florida.

When Eric Morrison of Tampa, Florida, saw nostalgia funny cars showing up at at a local track, he caught the funny car bug and started making plans to sell his truck and acquire a funny car chassis and body. The new chassis came with a '33 Bantam, but it wasn't long before he swapped that out for an '86 Mustang body, which he ran in a naturally aspirated configuration. His next powertrain was a blown injected alcohol Chevy motor with a Powerglide (manually shifted), which he ran alongside Dixie Classic Funny Cars at tracks in the Southeast.

Other funny car owners took notice of Eric’s driving abilities. He earned the name “Fast Kid” after a 7.65 second/155 mph early shutoff for a moderate license run.

Eric started to realize he needed much more experience in understanding how to service and run a blown-alcohol combination. So, he contacted Orlando, FL-based Mark Billington and inquired if Mark could use some help at the track. Mark invited Eric to come to the shop to help get a race car ready for the 2008 season. Mark gave Eric several projects to perform on his own, and, at the end of the day, welcomed him to the team. Under Mark's tutelage, Eric attended many divisional and national events, culminating in a divisional event win in Valdosta, GA, in 2009.

Eric's other notable gigs include stints with Artie Allen and his A/Fuel dragster, Charlie Gambino with his alcohol funny car, local blown-alcohol altered racer Mark Jones and Team Leverich in the Top Fuel class.

In 2016, after selling the old chassis, Eric purchased his current weapon of mass propulsion, a Hemi-powered Dodge Avenger funny car, and he had it up and running in January 2019.

Eric earned his NHRA Advanced ET license with a best of 4.58 ⅛ mile at 160 MPH in October of 2020.

Follow Eric on his Facebook page.