Remembering East Tennessee Racing Legend –– William Robert (Bill) Morton

By Robert Walden

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. –– The local racing community was recently saddened over the loss of a true racing legend. Bill Morton, of Church Hill, who thrilled race fans around the Mountain Empire region for 28 years behind the wheel of a racecar, passed away on Oct. 29, 2001 following an extended illness.

Morton began his illustrious racing career in 1953 at the old Morristown Speedway, and it all culminated with his induction into the East Tennessee Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1986. By then, he had visited victory lane over 400 times. Stops along the way included visits to such East Tennessee tracks as Kingsport Speedway, Appalachian Speedway, Sportsman Speedway, Volunteer Speedway, Newport Raceway, Atomic Speedway, Tazewell Speedway, Davy Crockett Raceway, Tri-Cities Speedway, Tennessee-Carolina Speedway, and others.

"Big Bill," as he was affectionately called by many, also competed in many NASCAR events during the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based sanctioning body’s formative days. He not only raced the convertibles on the beach in Daytona, but he also raced on the high banks at Daytona International Speedway, along with running several Grand National events at Bristol, Tenn., Charlotte, N.C., Darlington, S.C., Atlanta, Ga., Martinsville, Va., and North Wilkesboro, N.C.

In his only full season traveling on the NASCAR circuit, Morton finished 12th in points in the convertible division in 1958. He competed in the final race ever held on the famed beach course in Daytona.

While Morton enjoyed moderate success on the NASCAR circuit, he was a "terror" on the local racing scene around East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

With Bristol International Raceway opening in 1961, Morton won back-to-back championships at the half-mile in ’61 and 1962, when the track hosted weekly racing.

He captured the track championship in the Modified division in 1967 at Kingsport Speedway, the last year the track raced the open-wheeled coupes. Morton followed his ’67 championship campaign at Kingsport by winning the track’s Late Model title in 1968.

With the opening of the high-banked, half-mile dirt Appalachian Speedway in Kingsport, Morton had a remarkable 1969 season. Running on Fridays at Appalachian, and on Saturdays at Sportsman Speedway in Johnson City, he captured 12-straight wins en route to 23 feature victories on the season.

Driving his own Chevelle from 1971 – 1974, Morton strung together four-consecutive 20-win seasons while competing at the Sportsman and Appalachian Speedways. During the ’73 season he won championships at both tracks.

Hooking up with car owner Don Gray in 1975, Morton, driving a Camaro, had a successful season. But that was only the start to a strong Gray/Morton relationship. Driving a Chevy II for Gray, Morton racked up over 75 feature wins between 1976 and 1979; including a career-high 28 victories in ’78. He also won his last track championship in ’78, at Newport Raceway.

Even though he is no longer with us, anyone who ever saw him behind the wheel of a racecar knows without a doubt –– William Robert (Bill) Morton was a true "racing legend!"