The name Bob Morgan will be forever etched in Shootout history. In honor of the man who gave his life to boat racing, an ambassador of the most brilliant boating event in the nation, the Bob Morgan Memorial Shootout Hall of Fame breaks ground on its Silver Anniversary.
“Bob Morgan was an integral part of the Shootout from the very beginning of the race. He helped grow the Shootout and he was the one that brought in so many of the top racers through his relationship with them,” Shootout organizer Ron Duggan said. “He will be deeply missed by all of the Shootout family, and it is only fitting this Hall of Fame be named after him.”
The memorial, located next to Cannonball Beach at Captain Ron’s, will feature a metal statue of Bob Morgan and his No. 100 “Big Thunder” race boat. On the opposite wall, the new Hall of Fame wall honors inductees with nameplates.
As a special touch for the debut of the Bob Morgan Memorial Shootout Hall of Fame, an induction ceremony dinner will be held Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Stables at Cannon Smoked Saloon. The first 300 tickets are available for $20 each with half the proceeds benefitting Shootout charities. The unveiling of the memorial with the inaugural Hall of Fame names will take place Saturday before the races begin.
As a fundraiser, engraved bricks will be sold on the wall and a paved walkway leading to the memorial, which Duggan expects will keep growing around the property year in and year out. All bricks will have up to three lines of text. The 4-inch by 8-inch bricks on the walkway cost $75 a piece; 8x8 bricks run $150. The price for the 4x8 bricks on the round wall that protects the memorial will be $150 and the 8x8 bricks will be $300. Those donating to the cause may purchase a duplicate brick to keep at home for $15 (4x8) or $30 (8x8).
The Kansas Bad Man
Bob Morgan’s passion was racing and he was in it to win. “He would rather race than eat,” Bob’s loving widow Sue Morgan said.
Bob raced in every Shootout, absent only one. He took pride in supporting the local firefighters and non-profit organizations benefiting from the race. His competitive spirit kept him constantly after Top Gun bragging rights, which became a coveted prize among powerboat racers. Morgan etched the Big Thunder name in boat racing history two decades ago, winning Top Gun honors in 1991 and 1995.
Bob and Brazilian Guido Verme won the Superboat Unlimited 1998 National Championship in the Bahamas, reaching speeds of 124.82 mph in the Big Thunder Marine Skater. Bob also won the 1998 Superboat World Championship in Key West, Fla.; he took the title again in 2001 with Canadian Driver Lorne Liebel. “Bob really enjoyed racing in Key West,” Sue said. “It was his second favorite.”
The highlight of his career came with a win in Madre Plata, Argentina, with very good friend, and first-rate driver, Jim Lee, of Wichita, Kan. “That was our favorite race,” Sue said. “It was an international race and we loved meeting and competing against racers from all over the world in that exotic location. We shipped the boat 3,000 miles by ship from Miami to the race site. It was a rough race, with 12-foot seas, but Jimmy Lee and Bob kicked all their butts big time in Argentina.”
Bob raced in more than 100 races in his career—50 were offshore powerboat races.
The love for racing began in the 1960’s on the California coast. Back in the day, Bob raced 80 mph in a 16-foot Biesemeyer with the National Drag Boat Association. In 1969, he bought a gasser Hondo flat bottom, which reached speeds of 115 mph. He upgraded again, this time to a blown-fuel boat that moved him 152.9 mph.
Being from Kansas and continuously dominating Californians, he earned the nickname the “Kansas Bad Man.”
His last year in a drag boat was 1981. “He decided to start making money,” Sue said.
Bob moved to Lake of the Ozarks in 1987, where he purchased Dabbs Marina, renaming it “Big Thunder Marina.” This was the time when the Lake was transitioning from a small-vessel family lake to a roaring powerboat destination. Boaters with a need for speed were looking for high-octane airplane fuel and performance boat service. Big Thunder Marina delivered both. The marina became the No. 1 Baja dealer in the nation.
Bob and Sue sold Big Thunder Marina in 2006 - at the perfect time, considering the looming economic downturn - once again showing their business prowess.
Then, in 2008, Bob met developer Jeffrey “JT” Tillman and found they shared a passion for competitive racing. Joining forces, they raced together for the first time in the Offshore Super Series at Lake of the Ozarks. “They really hit it off. They both loved speed. They raced together about half a dozen times,” Sue said.
In the summer of 2011, the big announcement was made. The Morgans would team up with “JT” to buy back and revive “Big Thunder” — the property, the marina and the race team.
They made a huge splash at the Shootout that year, reawakening Big Thunder Motorsports after a five-year hibernation. Punctuating the return, they reclaimed the team’s 46-foot, 4,400-HP Skater. Bad Moon Rising once again became Big Thunder.
The team enjoyed revelry and rivalry at the Shootout, while eagerly anticipating a win at Key West only weeks away.
With JT driving and Bob on the throttles, it seemed inevitable that Big Thunder would win another world championship.
Then came the unthinkable.
It took only minutes on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, for the news to reach Lake of the Ozarks from the Superboat International World Championships in Key West.
Bob Morgan and JT Tillman were gone.
“They had one lap to go at the end of the race on Wednesday, when a rush of air caught the boat and flipped them over,” Sue Morgan said. “He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, on the wrong day. Anyone that races competitively is always living on the edge. They don’t think it will happen to them… Anything can happen…in our case, it did.”
