Braden River racer zooms past adult competition

In his first 600 Sprint Car Series race, he flipped.

Not a great start for Conner Dutting-Morrell on Feb. 27 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss.

His father, Allen Morrell, described his son’s car as looking “like a body” as it rag-dolled through the air. His 8-year-old brother, Trevor Dutting-Morrell, screamed in the stands.

Conner Dutting-Morrell said his mind was blank during the crash. He came out of it with a few bumps, but nothing serious.

Two days later, he resumed his sixth-grade classes at Braden River Middle School.

The 12-year-old speedster has been racing for six years, but his father said it feels like 60. Conner had loved racing games, so one dad his dad decided to have him try the real thing. After a quick training session, he was off on a quarter midget track.

Dutting-Morrell was so calm behind the wheel, he began waving to his family. Not the safest idea, but it made for a nice memory.

When asked what the allure of racing has been, Dutting-Morrell responded like you would expect from a 12-year-old.

“I like to go fast around the track,” he said.

His car is capable of reaching 120 miles per hour, but because the tracks on which he competes are small, he hasn’t been able to reach top speed. He settles for about 110 miles per hour.

Dutting-Morrell isn’t just doing this for fun, though. He’s really good.

He was named Rookie of the Year for the 600 Sprint Car Series, the youngest person to ever win the award. Most of his competitors are 15 to 20 years older and have racing experience on him, at the very least. But he landed in the top-five standings of four races this year, won two heat races and finished second overall nationally in points.

Dutting-Morrell said did not expect to do this well in his rookie season, but he never felt intimidated by his elder competitors.

“They were nice to me,” Dutting-Morrell said. “We’re like one big family. We joke around a lot.”

Allen Morrell said that his son earned the respect of his fellow racers throughout the season. Toward the end of the racing calendar, Dutting-Morrell was finishing ahead of top racers, but it was too late to make up ground in the points standings.

Next year, a championship is a real possibility for the confident racer.

How confident?

“(I’m) the best at everything,” Dutting-Morrell said at one point during our conversation.

I couldn’t help but laugh and admire his bravado.

His goal is to one day drive both in stock and sprint cars, like Tony Stewart. Stewart isn’t Dutting-Morrell’s hero, though. That would be Jeff Gordon.

“He made me feel like I could be just like him,” Dutting-Morrell said of the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Allen Morrell’s favorite memory of his son’s racing career is driving to Canada for a race and stopping to catch a glimpse of Niagara Falls. They have traveled all over the United States together for the last six years.

As someone who has also made extended trips across the country with my dad, I know how special moments like that can be. If nothing else comes of this racing venture for Dutting-Morrell, it still will have been for it for the memories. Trust me on that one.

Off the track, Dutting-Morrell said he is not a big fan of school, but does enjoy learning about government and history in his civics class. I asked him if that was an avenue he would like to pursue as a career.

He said no, he is going to be a driver.

Of course. How silly of me.