Sean Morrill is our new co-director, stepping in to fill that position. He was born in Portland Oregon, but the family moved to Atlanta, Georga when he was 4. He spent the next 20 years or so there, and met his future wife Kat in 2000 at Dragon*Con in Atlanta one summer, and they started dating soon after. They moved to Huntsville, Alabama the next spring and lived there for 3 years, then moved to Phoenix after Kat graduated college and got a job offer here. That will be 5 years ago this May.
Sean's family is still back in Atlanta, and Sean says, "they don't understand my car obsession, ... not really car people. Fred and Diane of Frankenlotus fame are our best friends here in Phoenix, and we are glad to see them embrace the club and love of competition."
Sean's first car was a 1974 Fiat X1/9, in "booger green." He drove that for 2 years in high school before it gave up the ghost. He says, "It was fun, but I never did any maintenance, didn't know how to." He ended up buying the Fiat a few years later from his parents for a dollar and took it to Huntsville. He went to an autocross where it threw the waterpump and alternator belt and overheated. He never drove it much after that, and sold it when they moved to Phoenix. He had a few daily drivers before picking up a 1996 Integra GSR and says he really got into loving cars at that point. "My first autox was in Atlanta, the weekend before I moved to Huntsville." He only spectated and regretted that, but found TAC (Twickenham Auto Club) in Huntsville and actually started driving the Integra.
The Miata, a '97 M. is Kat's daily driver, and "underprepared by stock standards, but that will change here shortly..."
Sean recently experienced some SERIOUS wet autocrossing in the Miata, pushing a wave of water into this right-hand corner:
"Now, I am a bonafied car nut," says Sean. He has a 2006 Subaru Legacy GT that has been modified, and "you can find me reading about car stuff just about every day." And they have started tacking mainentance in a big way, including changing out the clutch on the Miata with Kat's help in the garage. The biggest thing they had done up to that point, were shocks and springs.
As for other hobbies, Sean says he reads lots of books, does some video gaming, and at the beach, "you can always catch me flying 2 line stunt kites." Sean and Kat have been autocrossing since moving to Phoenix, and became SCCA members 2 years ago. Sean works for GoDaddy.com, as do many folks in our club. He has been doing tech support, and has recently started back at ASU to complete a degree in BIS (Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies). Big thanks to Sean for stepping into the co-director position, and for his and Kat's enthusiasm and participation in our events. They have been collecting a few trophies lately, and working on the Miata to make it more competitive. We expect great things from these two, and bet they are forthcoming!