NWAAS Banquet: Morris and Co. Get A Lift In Las Vegas
Las Vegas — The three-day celebration of the 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season in Las Vegas continued on Thursday and national champion Philip Morris received a bird’s eye view of it all.
Morris, his wife Donna, daughter Allison, 14, and son Blake, 11, were treated to an aerial tour of The Grand Canyon, Lake Meade and the Hoover Dam Thursday morning from Grand Canyon Helicopters. It was the opportunity of a lifetime that the Morris family had eagerly anticipated, and they were not disappointed.
“It was just awesome,” Morris said. “As a race car driver, I don’t get to do a lot of things outside of track-related activities. So for my kids to look at me like a hero because they got to do something that they don’t normally get to do, and for it to be in such a grand fashion, it was magnificent.”
The aerial tour also featured a stop on the canyon floor near the base of the Colorado River for lunch.
“It was kind of hard to put into words just how breathtaking it was,” said the Ruckersville, Va., driver. “To be able to go down in the canyon, land down there and have lunch, kick a cactus, and just see things you don’t normally get to see in Virginia. It allowed us to get the taste and feel of another world that we didn’t know anything about.”
The afternoon featured more activities for Morris and fellow NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers. Pole Position Raceway, an expansive indoor go-karting facility that features a quarter-mile road course, played host to the group.
Like many drivers, Iowa’s Brian Harris, the national championship runner-up, got his start in racing driving go-karts. Thursday’s outing was something he had circled on the week’s schedule.
“It was a pretty interesting deal, a real nice indoor facility with electric carts,” Harris said. “I think everybody had a good time. We got out there four or five times. I’ve got to thank NASCAR for the opportunity. We had a good time.”
Lex Johnson, track promoter from Evergreen Speedway in Washington, took home first place honors in the go-kart event. Bill Leighton, track champion at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska was runner-up and Morris came home third.
Morris and a host of track and state and provincial champions will be the guests of honor Friday night for the week’s main event – 27th annual NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet – at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.