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MURPHY STRUTS CHAMPIONSHIP STUFF
by Dan Fleischer |
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September 29, 2007 --- Peter Murphy showed why he's a Champion's Champion by winning the SCRA 25-lap Sprint car finale at Kings Speedway in Hanford (CA) Saturday night knowing he had the title wrapped up before the green flag was unfurled. By virtue of his fifth-place finish in the delayed Friday night feature (run Saturday prior to the complete evening's program) and a third-place finish in Saturday's heat race, the veteran Australian-born driver extended his point lead (1059) to 63 over Davey Pombo (1004) with only 60 points available to the feature winner. The final standings showed Murphy with 1127 to Pombo's 1027. Starting from sixth on the grid, Murphy moved into the fourth spot by the completion of the first go 'round and into the third position when the first yellow flag was thrown for T.J. Hartman's spin in turn four. However, reverting back one lap, Murphy had to accomplish the moved once again, which he did on lap seven. Moving with care and caution on the hard-slick track, Murphy waited three more circuits before passing Steven Williams for the runner-up spot behind leader Danny Faria. Murphy then proceeded to do what no other driver attempted, move to the middle of the track in turn four and it worked. His tires got a bite and he powered by Faria on the outside. It was a bold, risky move as he faced the possibility of slipping into the 'marbles' and losing several positions. When asked about the move, Murphy said 'My crew advised me before the race that the middle had some traction.' Murphy cruised the remaining 14 laps to record his sixth victory of the season by several car lengths over Faria, despite three more yellow flags. Faria who started on the outside front row, fought hard for the win, attempting to sweep the evening's double-header. He completed Friday night's feature, that was halted after four laps due to the crash that claimed the life of Jim Turner, with his first SCRA victory over Pombo and Jeff Gardner. Speaking of Gardner, he followed Faria to the line for his second podium position of the evening while first-time SCRA participant Shane Gobolic edged Steven Williams by inches at the line for an exciting fourth-place finish. Williams, running for only the fourth time this season, finished fifth after a strong showing which saw him challenging Faria for the lead during the early stages. Rusty Carlile, Rick Williams Albert Pombo, John Iturriria and Jim Richardson rounded out the top-ten. Pombo was running in the eighth position and desperately trying to salvage the evening with his seventh victory of the season. However, on lap 20, he bumped into cousin Albert entering turn one and blew his right-rear tire, ending his season. In the battle for Rookie of the Year honors, 16-year-old Justyne Hamblin took top honors when rival John Niggli suffered engine woes during Friday's events and failed to make the feature. That locked up the rookie championship for the local area (Hanford) high-school student. Celebrating in the pit area after the long evening, (he also competed in the winged division) Murphy was asked to comment on his evening's performance: 'It's been a long night,' typical of the soft-spoken man of few words. He then stated with a smile and a wink, 'I'm really proud to be the SCRA 360 champion and I wanted to win even though I knew I had the championship locked up.' Lone-time car owner Tom Tarlton was ecstatic with the outcome and was quoted as saying, 'When I hired Peter to drive for me, I had faith and confidence in him and I knew we'd do well as long as I gave him the equipment to do the job. He justified my beliefs completely.' Tarlton was also thrilled knowing his team captured a season-high seven features. Teenage sensation Michael Faccinto reached victory circle in his #21t machine on August 25. The Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino sponsored team was also celebrating Murphy's victory in the Riddell Enterprises Passing Masters Championship Series that awards points for starting and passing cars in the season's Trophy Dashes. Murphy outdistanced Davey Pombo by six points to double-up on the championships. Murphy and his rivals will collect the season-ending point fund money and the 'hardware' at the SCRA banquet on November 10th. SATURDAY RESULTS: QUALIFYING: #51 Rusty Carlile 17.63, #32 Jonathan Logan 17.69, #35 A. Pombo 17.73, #10 R. VanderWeerd 17.73, #7 Myles Bishop 17.87, #14jr. Matt Streeter 18.02, #93 Steven Williams 18.03, #21 Peter Murphy 18.07, #51t Jeff Gardner 18.15, #6r Rich Williams 18.16, #27 John Iturriria 18.23, #8 Justyne Hamblin 18.31, #11 Greg Bragg 18.35, #6 Brad Sweet 18.44, #57 Shane Gobolic 18.47, #2f J. VanderWeerd 18.63, #6a Bobby Elliott 18.75, #23 Jerry Wise 18.75, #28 Dave Knott 18.96, #17 Jim Riddell 19.38, #59 Richard Harvey 19.56, #8x Jim Richardson 19.56, #19 T.J. Hartman 19.63 (NOTE: Top 4 finishers from Friday's main were locked into Dash and did not qualify) HEAT #1 10-LAPS S. Williams, Harvey, Carlile, Gobolic, R. VanderWeerd, Wise, Iturriria HEAT #2 10-LAPS Hamblin, Richardson, Murphy, Bishop, Logan, J. VanderWeerd, Knott HEAT #3 10-LAPS Bragg, Streeter, R. Williams, A. Pombo, Hartman, Elliott DASH 6-LAPS Gardner, Faria, Bishop, S. Williams, Carlile, Murphy, Streeter, D. Pombo, A. Pombo, MAIN EVENT 25-LAPS Murphy, Faria, Gardner, Gobolic, S. Williams, Carlile, R. Williams, A. Pombo, Iturriria, Richardson, Bishop, Bragg, Harvey, J. VanderWeerd, D. Pombo, Knott, Hamblin, Logan, Elliott, Streeter, Wise, Hartman, R. VanderWeerd FRIDAY RESULTS: NO QUALIFYING - Pill Draw HEAT #1 10-LAPS Justyne Hamblin, Matt Streeter, Davey Pombo, Rick Williams, Jayson May, John Iturriria, Jim Richardson, Shane Gobolic HAT #2 10-LAPS Jeff Gardner, Jerry Wise, Danny Faria, Myles Bishop, Bobby Elliott, Pat Lawrence HEAT #3 10-LAPS Greg Bragg, Brad Sweet, Peter Murphy, Albert Pombo, John Niggli, Josh Davis, T.J. Hartman HEAT #4 10-LAPS Jonathan Logan, Rusty Carlile, Dave Knott, Jim Turner, Brett Lowder, Jim Riddell, Richard Harvey (Finished 3rd, DQ'ed Underweight) B' MAIN 12-LAPS Iturriria, May, Gobolic, Elliott, Richardson, Davis, Hartman, Lowder, Lawrence, Niggli DNF, Harvey DNF MAIN EVENT 20-LAPS (4 laps Friday, 16 laps Sat) Faria, D. Pombo, Gardner, Sweet, Murphy, Hamblin, Carlile, Bishop, Knott, Richardson, Logan, Elliott, Wise, Streeter, Williams, Gobolic, Bragg, Iturriria, A. Pombo, Turner, May, Davis |
