Racing Unites Mother-Daughter Bond in Passion-Amanda and Abby Morton Nov 2024

00:00:03 - Melinda Russell

Hey, my name is Melinda Russell and I am obsessed with telling the stories of women involved in motorsports, young and older, from all walks of life, currently involved in a wide range of roles, or sharing their stories from the past. I'm a wife, mother of four adult children and a mama of 16. In 2017, I was searching social media for a group dedicated to women in motorsports. When I didn't find what I was looking for, I posted a message to a few racing pages to see if any women would like to connect with me. And now I have thousands of women and men who are part of the Women's Motorsports Network. As crew chief of the only media company dedicated to women in motorsports, I work from wherever my travels take me. Publishing this podcast, the Women's Motorsports Network news online magazine, and let's Talk Racing Live, my social media show. You will hear from women who share their stories from the grid of life, how they manage the messy and memorable moments of family, work and racing. You will hear their tried and true secrets of success and many other topics like friendships, family, hardships and heroes that women deal with to balance the seasons of life. So grab your favorite beverage, pull up a seat, make sure you are comfy, and get ready to be inspired and encouraged from the stories on the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. Hello, everyone. This is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. And my guests tonight are a mother daughter team, Amanda and Abby Morton. I'm excited to have them on. We've had a little bit of trouble getting connected for some reason. We've. We're all busy, aren't we, Amanda? So, yeah, we're finally, finally connected tonight. And Amanda, I would like for you to start, if you would, and tell us a little bit about yourself and your family. Anything interesting that we should know about you guys.

00:02:12 - Amanda and Abby Morton

So I'm Amanda Morton, live in Ohio Lima. We're about a mile and a half from Crittersville, Ohio. I work in the school district in our area and I have one daughter. Abby married my husband for 12 years and we have a dog and about 15 rabbits.

00:02:33 - Melinda Russell

15 rabbits, wow, that's a lot of rabbits. And I. Do you raise them for some reason or you just have them as pets?

00:02:41 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Abby raises them for 4H.

00:02:43 - Melinda Russell

Okay, I wondered about that. Okay, well, Abby, tell me a little bit about yourself.

00:02:49 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm in fourth grade.

00:02:54 - Melinda Russell

And why do you. Why do you like to raise rabbits?

00:02:58 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Because they're fun animals to interact with.

00:03:04 - Melinda Russell

And you can join a club and.

00:03:07 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Meet new people and I like showing.

00:03:11 - Melinda Russell

Okay, be careful with your microphone. Or whatever, because you're kind of going in and out with your voice, so I want to make sure everybody can hear what you say. So you're in 4H. You never believe this, Abby, but I was in 4H way along, many years ago. But I didn't raise rabbits. I sewed and I baked, and I hated the sewing part. I had to rip out stuff, stuff so many times. And I still, to this day, do not ever want to have to sew. I think it burnt me out on it. But I love to bake, and that was fun. So you guys, you're involved in motorsports? Mother, daughter. Tell me a little bit about that. Amanda, how did you guys get involved in Motorsports?

00:03:58 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I started 25 years ago. My dad used to help a guy drag race, and his son tried it racing a goat carton. He's like, hey, you want to give it a shot? And I'm like, sure. So that I started racing. My dad quit drag racing with his friend, and we went racing.

00:04:13 - Melinda Russell

Wow. 25 years ago. And so have you been racing all this time?

00:04:18 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I've only taken, really, one year off, and that was the year I was pregnant with Abby.

00:04:22 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. I thought maybe that's how she got her bug, is because she was in your belly when you were racing.

00:04:29 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yeah, well, I found out I was pregnant with her shortly after the season started, so.

00:04:35 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. And, Abby, why do you like motorsports?

00:04:46 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Speed.

00:04:48 - Melinda Russell

You like to go fast?

00:04:49 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yeah.

00:04:50 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. And what kind of motorsports are you involved in? What do you do?

00:04:58 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Go karts.

00:04:59 - Melinda Russell

Go karts. Okay. All right. And is that something that you've been doing a long time, or did you just get started? How long you've been driving a go kart?

00:05:10 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Five years.

00:05:11 - Melinda Russell

Wow. Five years. And you're nine years old. So you started when you were a little, tiny girl? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So what's your favorite thing about driving a go kart?

00:05:25 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Driving with friends and people you don't know.

00:05:28 - Melinda Russell

Okay, so you meet new people. Do you go to the same track all the time, or do you go to different tracks?

00:05:36 - Amanda and Abby Morton

We mostly go to the same track, but we travel around sometimes.

00:05:41 - Melinda Russell

Okay, all right. Do you have a favorite track that you've been to?

00:05:47 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Probably Liberty.

00:05:49 - Melinda Russell

Kentucky. Liberty, Kentucky. And why. Why is that your favorite track?

00:05:54 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Because this is my first year gonna race it, and I get a watch.

00:05:58 - Melinda Russell

Well, last year, I watched my mom and dad do it, and my dad.

00:06:02 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Thinks this year I'm gonna be strong enough to race that track.

00:06:07 - Melinda Russell

Okay, so it's something you've been looking forward to it sounds like. And you're finally gonna get to race there for sure. Now, what's your. What's your home track? What track do you go to the most?

00:06:17 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Cridersville Spe.

00:06:19 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. And what about your mom and dad? Is that where they race, too? Yeah. Okay, so, Amanda, why don't you tell me a little bit about what you race and apparently your husband races. So it's a family affair. What. What kind of cars do you guys race?

00:06:37 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I race a clone motor, which is the adult version.

00:06:41 - Melinda Russell

Okay.

00:06:42 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Race, clone, super heavies. Heavies and mediums.

00:06:46 - Melinda Russell

Okay. And then what about your husband?

00:06:49 - Amanda and Abby Morton

He runs heavies and super heavy.

00:06:52 - Melinda Russell

Okay. So you're gonna have to educate me because I don't know that much about. When you say heavy. Super heavy. Those are different classes, I assume. They have different kinds of motors, different kinds of rules.

00:07:04 - Amanda and Abby Morton

It's all the same motor. It's just weight class difference. Like super heavies. Driver has to weigh 200 pounds.

00:07:12 - Melinda Russell

Okay.

00:07:12 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Cart has to weigh 200 pounds.

00:07:14 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. So what's your favorite thing about racing? You've done it a long time.

00:07:21 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm gonna say probably that adrenaline rush just to get up and be out there with my family.

00:07:27 - Melinda Russell

Yeah.

00:07:28 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Because my parents go every weekend with us and.

00:07:31 - Melinda Russell

Okay. I was gonna ask you what other family members are involved? So your. Your parents. And then do you have other, like, siblings or anybody else that goes. Okay.

00:07:41 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm an only child, so it's just my parents and my little family.

00:07:45 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. And is Abby your only child?

00:07:48 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yes.

00:07:49 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. So. And what, you know, what was your husband is. Did you meet him at the racetrack or.

00:07:57 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Actually, we were high school sweethearts.

00:07:59 - Melinda Russell

He tried to.

00:08:00 - Amanda and Abby Morton

He tried to ask me out junior year, and I said, nah.

00:08:06 - Melinda Russell

You said, no, thanks.

00:08:07 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yeah. Then we got together a year after we graduated.

00:08:11 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. And so, you know, does he mainly work on the. On the carts or do you all help out?

00:08:20 - Amanda and Abby Morton

We all try to help, but him and my dad do most of it. They know, set up and they know how to tweak them the right way.

00:08:26 - Melinda Russell

Yeah, for sure. So what's been the most success that you've had? You know, success doesn't always mean winning the race. Abby, I want you to hear this, too. You know, success doesn't necessarily mean that you win every race. We know that's never going to happen. You know, when you look at a football team, they might win half their games or more. A race car driver is probably never going to win half their races. Unless they only race a couple. Right, right. So. So we know that the chances of us having more than 50% wins is unlikely, but there's a lot of other things that can make you successful in racing. So why don't you share a little bit about what you think makes a race car driver successful?

00:09:19 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I think it's a lot of the determination. I went to Batesville, Mississippi, when I was 16, qualified 11th and finished second. And I just felt like, you know, I was against top notch national event race car, go kart racers that, you know, I've never raced against before. So that was a big, you know, I felt accomplished that I could actually be in their level and right there with them.

00:09:43 - Melinda Russell

Absolutely. And. And at that age, you know, it can be intimidating because it can be a lot of older people that you're racing against.

00:09:53 - Amanda and Abby Morton

So 50 year olds, 6 year olds. You know, I felt like, man, I really did this, this time.

00:09:59 - Melinda Russell

Yeah, absolutely. So what, you know, you race at the same track she does, but do you also race at other tracks or do you mainly race there close to home?

00:10:11 - Amanda and Abby Morton

We do a lot of traveling. Next year we're going to plan to travel a lot more since she has a lot more under her belt.

00:10:16 - Melinda Russell

Okay.

00:10:17 - Amanda and Abby Morton

You know, this was her first full season where she was completely just able to go out and do her thing and not be in a younger division. She actually competed this year.

00:10:29 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. That's cool. So have you won a race yet, Abby? Yes, you have. Wow.

00:10:37 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I have won a heat race.

00:10:40 - Melinda Russell

That's very good. Very good. And how did you feel after you won that race? Was that pretty exciting? Yeah, yeah, for sure. So that gives you some idea of how it feels to win a race. So you want to probably do a lot more of that, don't you? Yeah, yeah, for sure. So, you know, there's a lot of girls getting involved in all types of motorsports. Are there a lot of girls that you race against, Abby and then Amanda, you can answer that as well. As far as women that race against you, I've only raced against three girls before. Okay, so it's mostly boys.

00:11:23 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yes.

00:11:24 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. And in the races that you're in, is it an age bracket, is it a weight? How does that determine how. Who she races against?

00:11:35 - Amanda and Abby Morton

It's an age bracket.

00:11:37 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right, that makes more sense, for sure. Amanda, what about you? How. How are women involved in kart racing very much, or is it mostly men as well?

00:11:49 - Amanda and Abby Morton

It's mostly men. When I first started, you know, I raced a powderpuff class. I raced with five girls and Then that class just slowly dissipated and you hardly have them.

00:12:00 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. And do you think that's because of financial. They can't get the financial help. They get married and have kids. Don't have time. Why do you think there's not as many women involved?

00:12:14 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm really not sure. You know, maybe different aspects. I know a lot of my friends that I know that I went to school, they're like, why do you do that? That's a boy sport. Or I'm too girly.

00:12:26 - Melinda Russell

Yeah.

00:12:26 - Amanda and Abby Morton

And.

00:12:28 - Melinda Russell

But it's not a boys sport. No, that's what they don't understand. It. It's a, it's a race car driver. It's not a race car man driver. It's not a race car woman driver. You're a race car driver. So, you know, I know we always hear, you know, women involved in a typically male dominated sport. Yes, it's dominated by the men, but it's not a male sport. So what would be your advice to someone who's thinking about getting started in racing and they were a woman, what would be your advice to them?

00:13:09 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Be confident and just have fun.

00:13:12 - Melinda Russell

Yeah, you gotta have fun, don't you, Abby? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Have you made friends with some of the boys that you race against? Yes. Yes. Okay. And do they treat you pretty good at the racetrack? Yes. Yes. Okay, good. I'm glad to hear that because I think things have changed over the years, that the girls are way more accepted now than they used to be. And so I, I think it's even more. It's more older people that have those preconceived ideas about women racing than the younger ones, for sure. Amanda, what about you? How, how are you treated? You know, are you accepted as just one of the drivers when you go because you've raced a long time?

00:13:59 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I would say probably not, no. They gang up on you, do they? I think they pretty much, you know, they beaten, bang, just back, you know, they give it back to you just like they think, oh, well, she can handle it if she's out there.

00:14:13 - Melinda Russell

Yeah.

00:14:13 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Be able to handle that.

00:14:15 - Melinda Russell

And so what, what's your response to that? Like, let's say you're in a race and somebody ganged up on you or put you in the fence or whatever. What, what is your response to that, to them? Do you, you know, visit them after the race and take. Do it, take it out on them on the racetrack and show them that, hey, you can't be doing this to me. What do you do to stand up.

00:14:42 - Amanda and Abby Morton

For yourself pretty Much. Give it back. What I got. Yeah.

00:14:46 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. You almost have to, don't you? To get them to realize that they can't do that to you anymore. I. I have a young gal that races in Iowa, and she was having a lot of those issues, and she was a good racer, and the guys didn't like it, and so they would, you know, beat and bang on her. And when she finally started beating and banging back, several of them. Most of them quit because they. They don't want their cars messed up. For sure. Yeah. Right, right. So tell me, Abby, what color is your cart and what number is it? Okay, so I have two carts.

00:15:26 - Amanda and Abby Morton

One of them is a flat cart, which is blue and red, and I raced that cart, which is number 19.

00:15:31 - Melinda Russell

And then I have a cage cart.

00:15:33 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Which is teal and pink, and that number is 19.

00:15:39 - Melinda Russell

And how did you pick number 19?

00:15:42 - Amanda and Abby Morton

It was mostly the year I started.

00:15:45 - Melinda Russell

Okay. Okay, that makes sense for sure. Amanda, what about you? What kind of carts do you run and what are your numbers?

00:15:53 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I have a flat cart. It's a hellion chassis. It's number 99, and it's a black body or nothing fancy yet this year.

00:16:01 - Melinda Russell

Okay. Easier to fix if you have to, right?

00:16:06 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yes.

00:16:06 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. Yeah. It's great to have all those fancy designs and stuff. I love looking at them. But if you. But if you've got to fix them, then it takes time. And plain black's pretty easy to take care of.

00:16:20 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Exactly.

00:16:21 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. For sure. So what's your. What's your favorite thing other than. Other than driving the car, your favorite thing about being involved in motorsports?

00:16:34 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm gonna say, I guess mostly, you know, meeting the people along the way, it. Your friends become family. Like, no matter what, that person can be your worst enemy. But they can be family, too, because you're right there. They understand what you're going through. They know how racing life feels.

00:16:52 - Melinda Russell

Exactly. Yeah. Because, you know, we hear so often, and people that are not involved in motorsports, they don't get it, but the racing family can be very competitive when you're out on the track. But if something happens and you need help, or you, you know, at the track or in your life, there's no better people than your race family to come to your aid?

00:17:23 - Amanda and Abby Morton

You agree?

00:17:25 - Melinda Russell

You agree with that? Yeah. Have you ever had a situation where you had people come and help you with something and. And maybe surprised you a little bit that they did?

00:17:36 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Yeah.

00:17:37 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. Oh, God bless you. Thank you. Yeah. So what are your hopes for the future, Abby? What are your, you know, as Far as school and a career and then also about your racing, probably to actually.

00:17:58 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Finish first in a future.

00:18:01 - Melinda Russell

Okay. Yeah. And then what about school? What's your favorite classes in school, your favorite subjects?

00:18:09 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I like reading.

00:18:13 - Melinda Russell

Math, social studies and science. Oh, wow. You. You like almost everything then. And those are all really good subjects for a girl to get involved in. So what, what do you. I know you're only nine, but have you ever thought about what you'd like to do when you grow up? Yeah, when I grow up, I want.

00:18:34 - Amanda and Abby Morton

To be a veterinarian.

00:18:36 - Melinda Russell

Oh, I love that. So I have a little dog, he's a Shih Tzu and he's just the best. And I took him to the vet yesterday and everybody in the office is female. Both of the vets are females and all of the texts are females. So there you go. You know, the veterinary profession is wide open for women. So I love, I love that. And you've had experience with rabbits, so you'll be a good veterinarian. I'm sure of that. So, Amanda, we didn't. You said you work at the school, so you must either love kids or you're ready to be home afterwards. Yeah, yeah. But you know, what about your racing? You've raced for 25 years. It's in your blood, obviously. What, what is it that you still want to accomplish that you haven't accomplished yet?

00:19:37 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I think, you know, I've never finished less than fifth and points.

00:19:42 - Melinda Russell

Oh, wow.

00:19:43 - Amanda and Abby Morton

It's just like, you know, I drive to continue to want to keep that up and I want to watch her successed herself further into the racing.

00:19:53 - Melinda Russell

Wow. So you have been a very successful driver. Yes, yes, for sure. What do you attribute that to?

00:20:03 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I don't know, A lot of dedication, I guess.

00:20:06 - Melinda Russell

Dedication. Determined that you're going to go out there and do the best you can every time. What, what kind of advice would you give to other drivers? Not, not necessarily even just women drivers if they really want to be a successful driver as far as points or championships, what does that take?

00:20:30 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm going to say probably drive clean, set yourself. Don't be that over the head driver. I guess my dad always tells me before I go out on the racetrack, be safe, have fun and enjoy it. It's not about winning every race. It's just be safe. That's the key.

00:20:48 - Melinda Russell

Yeah, well. And we have to have fun, right?

00:20:53 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Right.

00:20:53 - Melinda Russell

It has to be fun. And that's something that we have to show our kids that, you know, sometimes when I get home from the racetrack, I think what Are those men thinking. Because it's normally men, what are these men thinking? They're acting like 2 year olds on the racetrack or they're, you know, they're running into each other and possibly hurting somebody. And, and I think, where did they lose the, the idea that this is supposed to be fun? Right, right. And we have to remember that we have to show the kids that are looking up to us that it's about having fun, being dedicated to something that you love. But yeah, I, I can remember a basketball coach one time my daughters all played basketball, and I can remember him saying, well, you're not taking this serious enough. Freshman girls, you know, they're, they, instead of crying, they might be laughing because they don't want to cry in front of the coach. Right. And I can remember him saying to them, you're not serious enough about this. This is a serious game. And I piped up. I happened to be standing there and I piped up and I said, well, coach, when it stops being fun, then it's time to stop playing. Well, that shut him up right away.

00:22:14 - Amanda and Abby Morton

And you know, my dad says that he goes, when it's too much and you know, you're not doing what you want, it's time to hang it up.

00:22:23 - Melinda Russell

Exactly, exactly. So do you see yourself racing for a long time, both of you? Yes. Yes. Yeah. It's something you do as a family. Yeah. Grandpa and grandma go along and. Nothing better than being at the racetrack on the weekend with friends and family, for sure. Now, are you still racing or is your season over?

00:22:49 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Our outdoor season is officially over. We're going to do Liberty Kentucky at Thanksgiving.

00:22:54 - Melinda Russell

Okay, so that's an indoor race. Yep. Okay. All right. And then do you have other indoor races during the season, during the winter, or just that one?

00:23:03 - Amanda and Abby Morton

They have a couple other ones down there at Christmas and then January and February, but we'll probably end up finishing November and be done get things next year.

00:23:12 - Melinda Russell

Right. You got to have some time off to recuperate and then you've got to have time to fix the, the carts back up for next year for sure. Yeah.

00:23:22 - Amanda and Abby Morton

And she's involved with basketball in the winter, so.

00:23:24 - Melinda Russell

Oh, yeah. So you do other sports at school, Abby? Yes. Okay. What do you do besides basketball?

00:23:31 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I play basketball. Which is what?

00:23:34 - Melinda Russell

Cheerleading.

00:23:35 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I want to play volleyball next year.

00:23:37 - Melinda Russell

Okay. All right. That keeps you in shape. All those sports are good, good for you to be involved in. They keep you in shape for being a race car driver for sure. Yeah. That'll keep your mom busy too, getting you to Practice and. Yeah, for sure. Well, ladies, is there anything that I haven't asked you about that you would like to share with my listeners about yourself, your racing, Anything at all?

00:24:05 - Amanda and Abby Morton

I'm gonna say I think it's pretty much that. It's really cool that I get to experience my daughter racing at a younger age than I started and just watch her grow for a sport that I truly love, and to see her smile every time. Yeah, he's coming off that track. It's just that great inspiration to watch and see her grow into the sport.

00:24:27 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. And nobody can ever take that away from you. You know, that's something that. The bond that you two are going to have and your husband too, you know, and the grandparents. That's a bond that nobody can. Can take away from you, and you can't even really explain it to people about what that means to both of you to be able to do that together. So that's great. Abby, is there anything you would like to share?

00:24:59 - Amanda and Abby Morton

A couple of weekends ago, I raced Fremont up in Was.

00:25:06 - Melinda Russell

Ohio, up somewhere near Toledo. Okay. And was that fun to go there? Yes. Yeah. And did you do well there? How did you do at that. At that race? I finished second. Wow. Really well. Really, really well. Good for you. That was a surprise.

00:25:29 - Amanda and Abby Morton

My grandpa told me I was. We were gonna sell my flat cart.

00:25:32 - Melinda Russell

But I said no because it was a surprise. And then my friend came too. Oh, so your friend got to go along and watch you race? He races with me. Oh, he races with you. Okay. Well, that's a very special thing to be able to share that with your friends, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. You're going to be lifelong friends as long as you keep racing against each other for sure. Yeah. Well, I have really enjoyed getting to know both of you today. Amanda, I appreciate that you stuck that. Stuck it out, and we were able to schedule this and get it recorded for sure. I just want you to know I'm. I'm proud of you ladies for leading the way in the karting world with your racing and to encourage other women to join you and other little girls to join the karting, because every kind of racing is fun and there's all levels of it. You don't have to be a NASCAR driver or any of those. Or a World of Outlaws driver. You can drive any kind of racing car, car, truck, whatever, and have a good time and enjoy the sport of motorsports.

00:26:44 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Exactly.

00:26:45 - Melinda Russell

Yeah. Well, thanks again for being on, and I hope you guys have a good rest of the week. Good luck on Thanksgiving at your race. And please stay in touch with me so that I know what you're up to. And. And when you get your first win, Abby, I want you to make sure you let me know. Okay, Cat? All right. Thanks, ladies.

00:27:06 - Amanda and Abby Morton

Thank you.