PORT ANGELES — He built it and they keep coming. After a 19-year sprint boat racing career, Wicked Racing owner and Extreme Sports Park co-owner Dan Morrison is officially retiring from American Sprint Boat Racing series competition after this weekend’s races.
Today is qualification Saturday, with races beginning at 10 a.m., while qualification/elimination and championship laps start at 10 a.m. Sunday. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. each day at ESP, 2917 W. Edgewood Dr.
Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-SprintTix25.
The races also are shown online at https://www.youtube.com/@ASBR-pro-racing-series.
Sprint boat races will continue at ESP after he hangs up his steering wheel, Morrison said.
He’ll just be on the other side of the safety fence with other fans ready to watch the sport.
Morrison began his sprint boat racing career at 49 years old and by 2008, his first full year, he had already captured the Modified Championship with a professional-built motor that set the tone for all of the team’s successes.
Wicked Racing moved into the Unlimited Class a few years later and Morrison went on to win seven Unlimited Championships with the higher-powered vehicles, including defending the current title this season.
“The coolest thing to me, besides making so many new friends, is how racing brought long-distance family closer together,” Morrison said. “They’ll all be at the last race. I’m proud of that.
“I’m thankful for the places this sport has taken me, the people I’ve gotten to know along the way, and the fans who have supported us through every high and low. The energy for Wicked Racing from the stands, the handshakes in the pits, the kids running around in their Wicked merch, it has all meant more to me than words can explain.”
Fought for right to race
Known for his fearless driving style of “Kicking ass and taking names,” Morrison was just as dogged in his pursuit of bringing sprint boat racing to Port Angeles, jumping through hoop after hoop to satisfy requirements.
Morrison said he worked through challenges with the Dry Creek Coalition, environmentalists and state and federal regulators to open ESP along with his wife Kelie. He also worked with the city to extend ESP’s conditional use permit indefinitely in 2017.
ASBR was founded in 2012, which Morrison co-launched with his late Wicked Racing teammate Doug Hendrickson.
For over a decade, Wicked Racing was proudly sponsored by Lucas Oil, and after COVID, became the face of STIHL sponsorship, which continues today.
New tracks
The series also held races this summer at two new permanent facilities in Lewiston, Idaho and next to the Yakima Valley SunDome at the Central Washington Fairgrounds in Yakima.
“I’ll never forget standing at Extreme Sports Park in Washington, looking out over thousands of people, most of them with ‘Wicked Racing’ across their shirts and hats,” ASBR & ESP Marketing Director Cherrada Haskins said.
“You hear groans when he DNF’d [did not finish] and cheers when he nailed a run, across the entire venue. I realized Wicked Racing wasn’t just a team; it was family, and fans loved them for a reason.”
For all the success on the track, Morrison doesn’t brag about wins, but boasts about where the sport can be taken.
“He never talks down his competitors,” Haskins said.
“He’s proud of everyone who puts a boat on the water and gives it their all.
“This last year, a young racer took the first place title Dan typically won, and instead of being frustrated, he smiled, his big pearly smile, and said how proud he was that new people were coming in and pushing the limits and this sport forward. That’s who Dan is.”
Kelie Morrison reflected on the last two decades.
“Wicked Racing has been such a huge part of our lives, and I couldn’t be prouder of what Dan has accomplished,” she said. “From championships to friendships, to building ASBR and ESP, this journey has given us so much.
“That said, I made a promise and I’m holding him to it. The boat and Wicked Racing team are officially for sale, so Dan can’t jump back in.”
Other side of the fence
And Morrison asked fans to continue backing the boats.
“I can’t thank the fans enough for their support,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere, just not in a boat. My intention is to grow ASBR and grow the sport. Please continue supporting all the awesome racers as we keep building sprint boat racing bigger and better.”
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@peninsuladaily news.com.
