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| Press Release |
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THREE-PEAT,
FOUR-PEAT FOR MURPHY |
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(July 7, 2007 - HANFORD, CA) Title seem confusing' Not really. Peter
Murphy, the man from down under, won this third straight SCRA 360 c.i.
non-wing Sprint car feature of the season and his fourth straight at Kings
Speedway in Hanford, CA. Only Davey Pombo's in between victory at Bakersfield
in May disrupted Murphy's continuity.
Driving the potent Tom Tarlton owned, Tachi Palace sponsored No. 21, Murphy led wire-to-wire in the 30-lap feature despite the concerted, but futile, efforts of Jonathan Logan to dislodge him from the number one spot. By virtue of his third Dash win of the season, Murphy started on the pole and 'out-dragged' front row companion Logan to the first turn. Hold on however: starter Lee Jaskowiak called it a false start and the field realigned for a restart. As the green reappeared, Murphy repeated his quick start and led the field for three-quarters of a lap when Jim Riddell spun in turn four bringing out the first yellow of the evening. Start number three was another repeat with Murphy beating Logan into turn one and for all intensive purposes, that was that. Murphy diligently worked the track, which was for the most part a one-groove track, and the traffic to perfection to garner the well-earned victory. The low-keyed Australian was quite blunt during his interview in the winner's circle. 'It was an advantage to start on the pole.' After a sensational third-place finish last time out, Logan showed signs of his 2006 SCRA championship form by following Murphy for the entire distance, attempting to stick his nose below or waiting for the leader to open the door by committing an error, but it was not to be. He crossed the stripe a few scant yards back. Third place went to visiting Clark Templeman, a long-time USAC/CRA competitor, whose father 'Shorty' was a multi-time National Midget Champion back in the 1950s. Templeman showed many of the youngsters how it's done, working his way through traffic from his ninth-place starting position. By lap six, he moved to sixth, by lap 11 he was fourth and finally gain the podium spot on lap 24 when he slid by 17-year-old John Niggli. Niggli finished a credible fifth for his best finish in weeks. Davey Pombo started far back in the field (13th) after being collected in his heat by a spinning Adam Frith-Smith. Pombo's crew installed a new front axel for the feature but by not transferring out of the heat, his second-quick qualifying time went out-the-window. As expected by the crowd, he used all his talents to move through the field, slowly but surely, He reached ninth on lap five, seventh on lap 10, sixth on lap 16 and then seemed to just settle in, a long way back from the leaders. However, on lap 21, Brett Lowder spun and the field was bunched up via the second yellow of the night. He then passed rookies Myles Bishop on lap 25 and Niggli on lap 29 to finish a strong fourth before the checkers appeared. He was able to retain his season point lead (650) over Murphy (631). Rounding out top-ten were Justyne Hamblin, who started 10th, edging Bishop by inches at the line, Steve Conrad, another first-time SCRA visitor, Jeff Gardner and Albert Pombo, who came from dead-last place on the grid. Hamblin's sixth-place finish over Bishop was so close, only the car's transponder could determine the finish. Heat winners included Hamblin, Carlile and Templeman while Logan recorded quick qualifying time of 15.909 on the 3/8th clay track. Qualifying: EXTREME MUFFLERS #1-10 Laps: KAEDING PERFORMANCE/KEIZER WHEELS HEAT #2-10 Laps: SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT #3- 10 Laps: RIDDELL ENT. DASH 6-Laps: MAIN-30 Laps |
