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High Fives For Murphy by Dan Fleischer |
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HANFORD, CA - JULY 21, 2007 --- Peter Murphy was giving the “high-fives” to
everyone around him in victory circle after capturing SCRA’s (360 Sprint Car
series) first-ever marathon 50-lap main event at Kings Speedway. As his hand was
being thrust into the air to meet others, it also had another meaning;
five-in-a-row at the Hanford, CA facility. His string started on May 5th and
continued with victories on June 2nd and 23rd, July 7 and last evening. Murphy started the feature on the outside of row one but was out-gunned into the first turn by 16-year-old Justyne Hamblin, who earned the pole by virtue of her win in the Dash. Rookie Hamblin held off the veteran Murphy until the fourth lap when she was passed, but, she wasn’t done yet. She re-passed Murphy on the next go-round only to lose the lead for good one lap later. From that point forward, Murphy cruised to victory, building up a straightaway lead on several occasions, interrupted only by yellow flags. As the field reached lap 10, Murphy was being trailed by Hamblin, Greg Bragg, Michael Faccinto, Myles Bishop, Rusty Carlile, Danny Faria Jr, Jonathan Logan, Jeff Gardner and Richard Harvey Jr. At that point, John Niggli spun bringing out the caution. As the field bunched up for the restart and received the green, Bragg made a neat move and passed Hamblin. Once again however, Hamblin showed her tenacity by re-passing Bragg but yellow number two, caused by Logan’s stalling on the backstretch, negated the pass before a full lap was completed. At the halfway point, Carlile moved into third after some ferocious battles with Faccinto, Bishop and Hamblin. Another yellow was displayed on lap 36 when Faria came to a stop in turn two, giving started Lee Jaskowiak the opportunity to display the red so the field could refuel their thirsty machines. When the green was displayed once again, Carlile remained in third until lap 40 when he passed Bragg for the runner-up spot. Bragg, in only his second start in the No. 11 machine after replacing Kiwi Alexander, re-passed within the same lap and looked strong for a second-place finish. Murphy’s young teammate Faccinto was on the move however, passing Carlile for third on lap 42. Two consecutive yellows were waved on laps 46 as first, Bishop looped his machine on the front straightaway, and then on the restart when he and Hamblin tangled in turns one and two, ending both their evenings. With only four laps remaining, Faccinto wasted little time and passed Bragg a short two laps later to make it a one-two finish for Team Tarlton. By virtue of his victory and the absence of Davey Pombo, who was running in the mid-west with USAC, Murphy took over the top spot in the drivers' standings as noted below. Rounding out the top-ten in the feature were Carlile, Gardner, Faria, who made a nice recovery after stalling earlier, Niggli, Iturriria, Harvey and Dave Knott. Heat victories were recorded by Faccinto and Bishop, while Hamblin, as noted earlier, took her initial Dash victory of the year. Logan recorded his second consecutive quick qualifying time. RESULTS: Qualifying: EXTREME MUFFLERS, SALDANA RACING/RACING OPTICS HEAT #1-10 LAPS:Bishop, Harvey, Carlile, Bragg, Gardner, Logan, Knott, Frith-Smith DNF KAEDING PERFORMANCE/KEIZER WHEELS, SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT #2-10 LAPS: Faccinto, Hamblin, Murphy, Faria, Niggli, Pombo, Iturrira, Turner DNS RIDDELL ENT. DASH-6 LAPS: Hamblin, Murphy, Bishop, Carlile, Bragg, Faria KEIZER WHEELS, ALTERNATIVE STITCH-WEAR, BR MOTORSPORTS, MATT & GLASS, STINGER CHASSIS, SALDANA RACING, RACING OPTICS MAIN-50 LAPS: Murphy, Faccinto. Bragg, Carlile, Gardner, Faria, Niggli, Iturriria, Harvey, Knott, Pombo, Bishop, Hamblin, Turner, Logan TOP 25 POINT STANDINGS: PASSING MASTERS DASH SERIES: |
