Happy Holiday Season!
I want to thank you personally for hanging with me, Morgan and John through a very busy 2025. For us this has been a year full of change and growth. It has shown us new possibilities and opportunities yet to come. I am grateful to have been able to share the journey with you and appreciative of your engagement with me all year.
While it was a smaller effort with SCCA this season, competing in the Spec Racer Ford 3 was an important component. Being with Mike Amy and Dog Gone Racing feels like home and makes doing challenging things a lot of fun.
The ten-race IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series had a lot to offer this year. All members of the relatively new Czabok-Simpson Motorsports (CSM) team embarked together on a very steep learning curve. Each race brought advancements in organization, car set up, and driver skill. Positives were abundant at each event, whether the final results were good or not. With a strong finish to the season, Morgan and CSM will take the solid foundation laid during 2025 and build upon it to reach new heights in 2026.
We thank the whole CSM team for an excellent and enjoyable season, especially:
- Mattias Czabok and Stephen Simpson for their trust in Morgan and for encouraging and challenging him to improve his skills in all aspects of motorsports.
- Mike Wright and Xander Grey who analyzed data and performance, guiding the drivers and set ups in the right direction.
- Dan Dunn and Zach Hoffman for leading an excellent crew in caring for the car before, during and after events.
Special thanks also go our partners for their support and enthusiasm, making this season much easier to run.
- Full Send Sims and Cort Schmidt
- PCS and Russ Turner
- Alpha Timing Systems
- Jackson Gardner
- MPG Motorsports, Billy Vincent, Chase Jones
- Olukai
- Smith
- Reis-Nichols Jewelers
- Laundry Sauce
- Racer's Law Group
- Les Turner ALS Foundation
- Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Here's how it all happened, month by month.
Set up for 2025
December may be the in off season, but I assure you, it was just as busy as it is during the racing season. It just contained different activities. Obviously, the biggest effort undertaken ahead of the 2025 season was working out the plan for the year. Enter Czabok-Simpson Motorsports (CSM) with a three-year deal for Morgan driving the Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4 RS in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge's GS Class. That multi-year agreement created long-term stability for a young driver entering his second season in professional racing. It also expressed the confidence the CSM principals had in Morgan's abilities both in and out of the driver's seat.
At the same time, arrangements with Dog Gone Racing were made to carry on running the Apple Motorsports Spec Racer Ford 3 in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) club racing. A few races sprinkled thorough the season culminated in a bid for the National Championship at the end of the year.
January
When it's January again, that means the off season is finally over. Morgan's first event with the CSM team came mid-January at Daytona International Speedway with a two-week run that began with lots of practice time during the Roar Before the 24. Morgan got acquainted with the Porsche and it was clear very quickly that he'd be quite comfortable in it. Better still, this well organized team welcomed him wholeheartedly. Morgan and his teammate for the year, Gordon Scully, were joined by Robert Megennis for Daytona and they established a good relationship right away.
The second week in Daytona was entirely different with the real racing at last at hand. The season opening race, the BMW M Endurance Challenge, is a 4-hour event. With the time to create rapport during the Roar, the drivers and crew moved on to the business of showing what we can really do out there. Honestly, nobody foresaw the amazing performance right out of the box. Morgan translated his astonishing 3rd place grid position into the lead by Lap 2 where he stayed most of the time until handing it over to Gordon. It really set a great foundation for the season to come.
March
Sebring International Raceway is flat and bumpy, hosting the second IMSA race, the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120. It's always hard to get the best car set up here. This time, Morgan and Gordon ran well, maintaining roughly 8th place in the 2-hour race for a long time. Sebring is unlike any other track on the calendar and while they learn a lot from this one, the details of the set-up won't translate to other tracks.
April
This month featured the first of the SCCA events, the Majors at Summit Point, WV. In this series, Morgan drove the Apple Motorsports SRF3, expertly supported by Mike Amy and Dog Gone Racing. The weekend brought beautiful Easter weather and two excellent races. It set him on a good path toward the goal of qualifying for the National Championship Runoffs at the end of the year.
May
We started May with the third IMSA event - the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120. This track offered an entirely new kind of circuit with its enormous elevation changes. This place required a whole new car set up and driving style to be effective. The team is still learning the nuances of this car, but they still qualify and race reasonably well.
Later in the month, we attended the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH. Morgan was back in the SRF3 for two more races. Chilly and variable weather necessitated quick adaptability to the changing surface grip conditions. Morgan loves that sort of challenge! This event gave him an advance look at the reconfigured China Beach corner before the coming IMSA race.
June
The fourth IMSA event brought us back to Ohio for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio. Like the previous events, the hunt for a good set up was top priority, and combined with the still variable weather forecast, it was tough to get it in the zone. Even with a difficult race, everyone kept the focus forward to make the best of it.
In mid-June, we swung north to New York's Watkins Glen International for IMSA's Round 5, the LP Building Solutions 120. Watkins Glen is a fast, flowing track with some pavement changes that added a different sort of challenge. The set up gets dialed in better and more quickly each weekend, all slowly heading in the right direction.
After a few short days at home, we were right back at Watkins Glen for the last week in June for Morgan's third SCCA Majors event. The car was good. The weather conditions were pretty good. The track surface would get a bit better. The racing was exciting with hard pushing, lots of passes, not too much drama. Morgan collected enough points to be qualified easily for an entry to the Runoffs in October.
July
IMSA's Round 6 took place at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park 120, a track also affectionately known by its old name, Mosport. This monster of a track required great confidence and commitment from the drivers. It's a real challenge to manage, especially when the perfect set up remains elusive.
August
Early this month, IMSA's Round 7 went to the Road America 120. This race had a lot of time under caution, squashing the energy and upping the risk. Regrettably, one of those yellows was for our car and we didn't get to see the checker.
Late in August, we were at our home race at Virginia International Raceway for the eighth IMSA race, the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 120. Morgan matched the year's best qualifying position with 3rd and he started the race. Gordon took the middle stint and Morgan jumped back in for the anchor. Unfortunately, gearbox issues caused a retirement with just three laps to go.
September
Indianapolis is such fun place. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 was the home event for the team and Morgan does well here. An auspicious beginning in practice sessions faded quickly come qualifying and racing. This time, contact early in the race damaged a radiator, taking us out.
October
The SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the SRF3 at Road America kicked off the last month of the racing season. In this week-long social event with racing added, Morgan qualified and ran well, finishing 4th in a very competitive field.
From there it was straight to Road Atlanta for the tenth and final IMSA race. This is another favorite track and the Fox Factory 120 did not disappoint. Gorgeous weather and a good set up for the car yielded the results we'd been chasing all year. Putting in an excellent drive in the closing stint up through the field from 21st, this time Morgan translated the 3rd in qualifying to 7th at the checker, best of the year. It's good to end the season well!
November and December
Rest. Relax. Reset.
Give Thanks. Get organized.
Plan. Prepare. Pack.
January is coming!
