Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
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(Jon Paquet Photography)

Tarlton Sprint Cars Finish 1^st and 3^rd At Santa Maria

By Gary Costa

Santa Maria, CA - (May 23, 2009) – Peter Murphy captured his fourth victory of the season at Santa Maria Speedway in Non-Winged Sprint Car competition aboard Tom Tarlton's potent No. 21. Hanford's Michael Faccinto also had a strong showing in another Tom Tarlton owned Maxim in the feature event, by finishing a solid third. Both cars would be sporting Chamblin-Landes Construction stickers for the event.

Murphy, who won last weekend's event at the Tulare Thunderbowl after starting ninth, was on a man on a mission as soon as the team pulled through the Santa Maria Speedway pit gate. He qualified third out of the 22-car field and went onto win Heat No. 3.

Murphy would lineup on the inside next to veteran Davey Pombo in the second row. When the green flag came out for the 30-lap feature, Murphy would fall into position behind the leaders on the heavy and tacky surface. As the race went on, the leaders got into trouble and Murphy acquired the lead. Pombo would try Murphy on occasion, but he would glide the Tarlton & Son, Inc., Maxim under the checkered flag for the team's fourth victory of the young season.

"We had another good run," Murphy said. "The further that we got into the race, the harder I ran the car. The guys did a real great job and we're just clicking in Tom's (Tarlton) car right now. It was also cool to have a good showing with Chamblin-Landes Construction stickers on the cars"

Michael Faccinto had a stellar weekend as well. The young lion from Hanford won Heat Race No. 2 and powered his way to a strong third place finish in the feature. His third place finish is his best finish to date. Look for more strong finishes from Faccinto as he and the team get the bugs worked out in the Tarlton & Son Inc., No 21T.

Murphy also went to Calistoga to race with the Golden State Challenge Series. He qualified the Rick Eberhardt owned Tarlton & Son, Inc., sponsored No. 13 in the 11^th spot. Murphy went onto win a stacked Heat No. 2, which included Tim Kaeding, Brent Kaeding, Jason Statler and Tyler Walker. Murphy started in the tenth position on the grid. He was moving up and put him into the fifth position, unfortunately the throttle linkage broke. He was relegated to the back of the pack where he eventually finished 11^th.

"Our finish may not show it, but we had a good go at Calistoga," Murphy explained. "It always fun mixing it up with them. It's a shame that we lost the throttle linkage because I felt that we could have finished in the top five."

You can catch Peter Murphy driving two different disciplines this weekend. Friday he will be running with the GSC at Ocean Speedway with the wing. Then on Saturday it's time to get busy with the USAC/CRA at the Tulare Thunderbowl.

Tarlton & Son, Inc., appreciates support from The Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Ridgeline Framing, Shark Racing Engines, Matt & Glass, M & S Motorsports, Sharp Insurance, McLellan Equipment, Elite Racing, BG Products, Pro Signs, VMAC, Kaeding Performance, Pro Shocks, Sander Engineering, Astro Titanium, Simpson, BR Motorsports, Willwood and BRMS.