John Morton Grand Marshal of HSR's Mitty

Both the Nissan and Datsun marques will be featured at this spring's Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty. The world-class historic race weekend returns to Road Atlanta April 26 - 29, and the event's grand marshal is a racer who is closely tied to both Nissan and Datsun: John Morton.

After a 40-plus-year career, Morton is best remembered for the 1970 - 1972 seasons. During that time period he drove a Datsun 510 to a pair of SCCA 2.5 Trans-Am titles while also claiming two SCCA C Production championships in the brand's 240Z. Both cars were campaigned by Brock Racing Enterprises and wore the team's iconic red, white and blue colors, including those now legendary diagonal door stripes. Some 15 years later, Morton was also a key team member of Nissan's IMSA-dominating GTP ZX-Turbo program.

A member of multiple motorsports hall of fames, Morton is now a regular on the vintage race circuit and has competed many times with HSR, the sanctioning body for the Mitty weekend.

Before joining the Nissan squad, Morton drove for Shelby American and recently authored a book about those days. He will be signing autographs for fans at the Mitty in the Classic Motorsports tent. John Morton

Nissan North America will celebrate their featured marque status by sending several cars to the event from their heritage collection, including the very same Datsun 510 Morton raced.

The Mitty weekend is a gathering for anyone who likes sports cars. Spectators can enjoy car corrals, vendors, an expansive hospitality tent and many other activities. Plenty of camping spots available throughout the property make it a perfect weekend to spend with friends and family. Meanwhile, it will all be surrounded by the excitement of HSR-sanctioned historic racing activities.

So whether you're a Nissan fan or just a sports car enthusiast in general, you'll want to make plans now to attend the 2018 Classic Motorsports Mitty. Mark your calendars for April 26 - 29 and plan to join one of the largest vintage motorsports festivals in the country


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