John Morton will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on March 10, 2026. This is a fitting place for a driver who started his career working at Carroll Shelby’s shop, went through driver’s school, and eventually would go on to win some of the biggest races in the world including the 24hrs of LeMans, 12hrs of Sebring and more. Although most of his career was spent in sports cars and prototypes, Morton also made his Indy car debut at Long Beach in 1984 and scored a top ten finish. He would compete at multiple Indy car races over the next few years. We met up with Morton at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he was just informed that he would be inducted into the MSHFA. He’s a humble guy that is in much demand today to drive vintage race cars at a myriad of events and private tests. He’s super cool, super fast, and super nice. Enjoy!
NOTE: For more information on the MSHFA, please visit: www.mshf.com.
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By Larry Mason
Copyright © 2025 Larry Mason
photo: Stan Sholik
John Morton is a fan-favorite driver that has enjoyed a long career in amateur and professional motorsports.
John Morton puts his BRE Datsun 510 through its paces at a wet Laguna Seca in 1972.
photo: Bill Warner
John Morton would win the C Production title at the 1970 Road Atlanta SCCA Runoffs in a BRE Datsun 240Z. Here he is leading future Group 44 Jaguar GTP Racing boss, Bob Tullius.
photo: Jerry Howard
John Morton’s favorite car was the V12-powered, Group 44 Jaguar GTP car. He won the last LA Times Grand Prix in 1987 at Riverside International Raceway sharing the car with Hurley Haywood.
photo: BF Goodrich
John Morton shared the driving duties with Pete Halsmer in 1985 and is shown here navigating the world-famous “Corkscrew” in the beautiful BFGoodrich Porsche 962 GTP car. This duo would win at Riverside in the LA Times Grand Prix that year.
photo: Nissan PR
The Nissan GTP race car’s debut was at Riverside and the all-black California Cooler sponsored car was not a threat to any other team in that race. Who knew that it would be developed into one of the greatest race cars of all time. Here, Morton is racing the twin-turbo rocket at Road Atlanta in 1988.
The engine out of the Nissan GTP car got “shoe-horned” into the 300ZX body of the IMSA GTS car and also proved to be stunningly successful. Here Morton is on his way to winning the 1994 12 Hours of Sebring with co-drivers Steve Millen and Johnny O’Connell.
Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason (unless otherwise noted)