Electric motor to turn water pump

I am building a 74 Dart for the track. Right now it is going to have a mild 318 to get my wife seat time and used to driving a race car. Then I will increase from there. But I have a question maybe someone can help answer for me. I have a 12v motor that I picked up and thought that it would maybe beneficial to use it to turn the water pump instead of a belt. Thoughts? what would be the benefits of doing this? Is is worth the effort to go to the trouble of figuring out how to do it? What direction does the water pump pulley turn looking at the front of the motor? Clockwise or counter?

Thanks for your input