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(Photo courtesy L&J Photography)
Tommy Tarlton Runs 7th at Ocean Speedway and Peter Murphy Finishes 4th at Santa Maria
By Gary Costa
Watsonville, CA - Santa Maria, CA - (June 5-6, 2009) – Tommy Tarlton and Peter Murphy would both be in competition over the weekend in Tarlton & Son, Inc. Sprint Cars over the weekend. Tommy would make a return to GLR Investments 360 Sprint Car racing for Round No. 5 in the Ocean Speedway series. Tarlton picked up Round No. 4 during his last visit.
Peter Murphy would pilot a Tarlton & Son, Inc. Tom Tarlton owned mount in West Coast 360 Sprint Car competition at Santa Maria Speedway. Murphy picked up the win the last time the team visited the speedway on May 23rd.
Tarlton's night started off strong in qualifying. He blasted around the speedway turning in an impressive 12.139 lap, which qualified him third out of the 22 car field. In Heat No. 2 Tarlton would get in a tussle for the second position with Ronnie Day and Brad Furr. Tarlton eventually finished third in the fast paced event.
In the 30-lap feature Tarlton would line-up ninth. When the green flag flew Tarlton had his elbows up and was charging forward. He was running the top of the racetrack with outstanding precision. Tarlton would eventually finish seventh in the fast paced event.
"The motor was 'lazy' in the heat race and main event," Tarlton explained. "I wasn't able to power through the rough stuff. I'm not happy to finish where we did, but I'll take it with all things considered. The race was intense and you had to be on the throttle all of the time."
Peter Murphy qualified fourth out of the 25 car field. In the second heat, Murphy went onto finish second. In the 30-lap main event, Murphy would begin his charge from his seventh starting spot. As the laps wore on the car began to tighten up. He still managed a fourth place finish and extended his West Coast 360 Sprint Car points lead. The fourth place finish is the first time that the team has finished out of the top-3 in nine Non-Winged 360 races entered.
"I'm not real happy finishing fourth. We've been running so good I guess that's why it's disappointing," Murphy said. "I'm not complaining, but I guess that I have gotten used to running up front so much, fourth becomes a little disappointing. Not much we can do, but the boys did a great job and we will move onto the next race."
Tommy Tarlton's next event will come at the Dirt Cup in Skagit, Washington. The event is held June 18-20. Peter Murphy will again grace Santa Maria Speedway this Saturday. He will be competing with the USAC/CRA Non-Wing Sprint Car Series.
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.
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