It’s not the Ponderosa, but Larry Morgan is justifiably proud of his 76 acres in Newark, Ohio.  There’s a farm on the spread, one that grows corn and soy beans, and several other buildings where horsepower is the marketable commodity. Make no mistake, Morgan is neither farmer or country hayseed.

Morgan is one of NHRA’s most respected Pro Stock engine builders and horsepower is the focus of attention on his acreage.  As for the farm, he leases that to a local.

Morgan builds Mopar motors – horsepower-laden, victory-enticing power plants built to withstand the test of high revolutions and severe internal stress, all in less than seven seconds.  It’s a daunting task many have attempted but few have mastered.

He leases those motors to fellow Dodge drivers V Gaines, Johnny Gray, Max Naylor and newcomer Vinnie Deceglie, besides bolting one in his own Dodge.

It’s not the Ponderosa, but Larry Morgan is justifiably proud of his 76 acres in Newark, Ohio.  There’s a farm on the spread, one that grows corn and soy beans, and several other buildings where horsepower is the marketable commodity. Make no mistake, Morgan is neither farmer or country hayseed.

Morgan is one of NHRA’s most respected Pro Stock engine builders and horsepower is the focus of attention on his acreage.  As for the farm, he leases that to a local.

Morgan builds Mopar motors – horsepower-laden, victory-enticing power plants built to withstand the test of high revolutions and severe internal stress, all in less than seven seconds.  It’s a daunting task many have attempted but few have mastered.

He leases those motors to fellow Dodge drivers V Gaines, Johnny Gray, Max Naylor and newcomer Vinnie Deceglie, besides bolting one in his own Dodge. 

Booming business forced him to expand his shop three fold and he recently moved into the new building (on part of his property).  When Morgan goes racing, six of his 11 employees remain at the shop.

However, no matter what he builds, or how good he builds it, the primary negative of his job is that it will never be perfect. 

The premise is simple, says Morgan, an engine builder for more than 20 years, “What you have to understand is that you can only do the best you can do.  All I can tell you is each motor has about the same horsepower.  We don’t give an engine to someone if it is not capable of qualifying.”

There will always be more horsepower to find, different ways to configure cylinder heads, manifolds, whatever.  The “you snooze, you lose” mantra generally associated with the starting line on race day applies as well to Morgan’s daily routine.

“You have to keep moving forward,” he said. “We are constantly running the dyno and that’s how it has to be to keep up with the other engine builders out there.  I don’t the have the budgets that Greg (Anderson) and (Victor) Cagnazzi do.  I wish I did, so I have to do the best I can with what I’ve got.

“We build very competitive motors and it is a ful ltime time job.  We had two motors in the top 10 last year.  I finished seventh and V was 10^th.  Max (Naylor) qualified good all year.  He was the No. 1 qualifier at Indianapolis and Memphis.  It is tough just trying to make sure everybody qualifies.”

Once the motors are doled out, the individual team crew chiefs are responsible for their qualifying and race combinations. 

“A big part of what I do is getting the crew chiefs to understand they need to work around what we have, not work around what another team may be doing,” Morgan pointed out.  “I supply them with a good engine and we will discuss with them what we think might work and vice versa.”

To be successful requires “a whole lot of hard work . . . and it takes a lot of money. The problem is there isn’t a whole lot of money to be made racing alone. The income from our lease customers is required for us to be competitive and to support our research and development program. The only way I can do it is to work 12-to-14-hour days.  You have to work hard to survive. It’s all about survival.”

Morgan estimates 90 percent of his research and development work becomes a candidate for fishing weights as he constantly searches for one, two or even three more horsepower. 

“We buy parts and try things, knowing that much of it is not going to work. That’s a lot of money, and then you add what it costs for employees and overhead for the shop.”

What does pass final inspection works well and provides ample evidence this straight-talking Ohioan backs his promise with performance.

Morgan (6.566 seconds, 210.31 mph), Gaines (6.588 at 209.39) and Naylor (6.599 at 209.72) each ran career bests at Gainesville, Fla., last March.

Gaines, a longtime Morgan customer, says “the biggest thing is he is always working hard and places the customer No. 1 . . . not necessarily a normal situation with other engine builders.  He asks which motor we want to run and we can take our pick, even the one in his car. They are all within 1-to-2 horsepower.  It’s a comfortable feeling that we are getting the best there is.”

However, Morgan's chosen path isn’t for the casual mechanic.

“This is the toughest thing I have ever done,” Morgan admits. “I am glad that we have been able to keep this many guys employed and this many guys out there racing.  Actually that’s more gratifying to me than winning the championship.  I’ve done well in my time.  I don’t win like some of the others but, you know what, I’m out there. I can say that. I’ve been doing this since 1984, and I’ve been very fortunate. I surround myself with a lot of good people and I have been able to race with a lot of  great people.  I couldn’t ask for better.”

“This is the bottom line,” continued Morgan.  “If I go out and run fast and my clients don’t, they are more than welcome to the engine in my car.  I don’t know many people that would do that, but it’s also in my bests interests as a businessman as well.

“I think being honest and up front has probably kept me doing this.”

Those refreshing traits, as well as his adept engine building prowess, will again be on display when the 2008 season begins at Pomona, Calif., Feb. 7-10.