By Gary Costa, L&J Photography
Watsonville, CA – Hanford, CA (June 4-5, 2010) — In the short period of time that Peter Murphy has had to assemble his Buster & Ziggy Enterprise Winged Sprint Car team, Murphy has quickly made the team a contender. This was never more evident than this past Friday night at the racy Ocean Speedway. Besides a hiccup during the Taco Bravo Series season opener, since hitting the Ocean Sprint Car Series scene, the wily veteran has not finished out of the Top-6. Murphy was also the pilot of a Non-Wing Buster & Ziggy Enterprise mount at Giant Chevrolet Speedway, where he didn’t disappoint, and was just as fast in his first outing with the car in the West Coast 360 Sprint car Series.
At Ocean Speedway, Murphy’s evening began with him circling the ¼-mile dirt oval in the Buster & Ziggy Enterprise, Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Kiwi Transport, Tom Ingram Motorsports, Pro Signs No. 11 Maxim. He would qualify sixth quick, turning 11.871 seconds around the speedway. Murphy would then finish third in his heat race, which gave him a prime outside front row starting spot for the 30-lap feature.
When the field went green, Murphy fell in line behind Matt Sargent and kept him in his crosshairs. Peter was able to slip by Sargent and began to enter heavy lapped traffic as the laps wore on. In the waning laps of the feature, Murphy and Tommy Tarlton went at it. A lapped car would erase Murphy’s chances of victory as the two drivers made slight contact entering turn three. Murphy did a masterful job of keeping the car fired and eventually crossed the line in second. “We had a good run. I’m real happy with how far that we’ve come in such a short time. It’s tough to lose it like that, but we had a good battle with Tommy (Tarlton), and all things considered, it was a good night for us,” said Murphy.
Saturday, at Giant Chevrolet Speedway, it was more of the same for Murphy. While the car was different, Murphy had Blaine Stele and Jason Wheelock in the pit area. The trio has turned Non-Wing 360 racing upside down, while setting and breaking records along the way. The Bullet chassis was new to them, but they adapted quick as Murphy drove to the sixth quickest time of the evening by turning 16.104 seconds. Murphy finished third in his heat race, which would have him start out of the third position.
When the green lights flashed on around the speedway, Murphy was already on the move and took the lead on the fourth lap. Just like the previous night at Ocean Speedway, he began to distance himself from the rest of the field. However, around the fifteenth lap, Justyne Hamblin began to reel in Murphy. On the twenty-forth go around, Hamblin was able to dive underneath Murphy and drive to victory, with Murphy crossing the line in second once again. “I’m not real happy with myself, but I guess we didn’t do too incredibly bad for our first time in this car. I can’t thank Buster & Ziggy enough for the opportunity to drive for them. I would also like to thank the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Kiwi Transport, and Tom Ingram for all of their support. Justyne did a great job, I made a mistake and she capitalized on it, and she deserved the win.” Murphy commented after the race.
Be sure to check out the Peter Murphy Racing Facebook page where you can get up to date results and pictures from the races as they happen.