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(Photo courtesy Bryan Lugo)

Peter Murphy Continues Strong Non-Wing Sprint Car Runs

By Gary Costa

Santa Maria, CA (July 4, 2009) – Peter Murphy continued his powerful runs within the Non-Wing 360 Non-Wing set, as Murphy would lay down another strong run with the West Coast 360 Sprint Cars on Chris Kearns' fast Santa Maria Speedway clay.

Murphy's night would start with him qualifying fourth quick in the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No. 21 Shark powered Maxim. In preliminary action Murphy went onto finish third in his heat race. In the 30 lap feature, Murphy would immediately get into a slugfest in the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No. 21 with Richard VanderWeerd and others for the top-spot, with Murphy eventually settling for second place in the event.

"That was a fun race. The track was just fantastic tonight, Chris is really doing a great job since taking over the facility," Murphy said. "The team worked hard all evening, but we came up just a little bit short. I would like to congratulate Richard on his win. I went to the top, and he made a nice move on the bottom to get under me."

Peter Murphy will be back in action this Saturday at Chowchilla Speedway in the Tarlton & Son, Inc. No. 21 Maxim to do battle with the Bandit Sprint Car Series.

Tarlton Motorsports efforts are supported by: 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.

Be sure to follow Tarlton Motorsports on the web at www.tarltonandson.com

Actually that was one of the best races I have seen this year with at two other cars trying for the number one spot besides Murphy...(At one time there were as many as 5 that could have taken the lead) .It was a lot of fun to watch Peter run different lines every lap to hold back two different cars (One in the high groove the other down low)Again many thanks to Chris for a Great night at Santa Maria Speedway..

Jeff

You're right, that was one hell of a race Saturday night! I'd like to give some props to Justyne Hamblin and her team. She was a rim riding machine out there. The cushion in 3-4 was about against the wall and she ran up there flawlessly. If she could have ever cleared Pete off of 4 and down the front stretch, i think she may have checked out. What a show Wes Gutierrez put on before that thin cushion in 3-4 bit him. The Vanderweerd brothers were awesome as usual! Those boys get better everytime i see em. Add in the classy Peter Murphy, Carlisle, Faria, Pombo, and what a whale of a show that was! Always nice to see Greg Pore run too. What a beautiful car that 3p is. Too Bad Albert Pombo had motor problems?, always enjoy watching him do his thing. Thanks to Chris Kearns and crew for the excellent track! Looking forward to coming back for the Grand Slam next month!

Oakhurst Mike

Mike, you are right about the main event, Peter had his hands full trying to go high and low with Hamblin on the outside, the VanderWeerd boy were on the bottom. Peter went up top to block Hamblin who stayed up top and that let Richard VanderWeerd who was running the the bottom slip through to get ahead of Murphy. The last caution flag pretty much cost Justyne the race. You had to be there to see the stands going nuts.. Again hats off to the top four... They had their own show going on. WHAT A SHOW and WHAT A RACE !!!

That main event was really good. Watching Wes work the top line out of 2 and full throttle into 3 was jaw dropping. I knew I had to keep an eye on him as you can only hit the top line at SMS so many times before it bites you. There wasnt much cushion up top but what little was there he hit hard as did the impressive Justyne Hamblin. She was running a safer line just a couple of feet lower than Wes and that saved her from biting the wall. What a great night of racing for the sprint cars, my only gripe is waiting 1 hour for 25 laps of modifieds but over all it was a great night of action.

"Winged or non-winged its all about 
the sprint cars for me!"
http://mattmusselldesigns.daportfolio.com

Congratulations to the Vanderweerd team as I am a big fan of both these young drivers. Santa Maria is making big news this year! The 410 wingers should also put on a great show for the fans.

"Ralphie, Senor, muchas gracias por una mas cerveza"  -
Scott Daloisio @ the PAS

Santa Maria is a great facility to watch a race. I was highly impressed when I attended the USAC/CRA race there a couple of weeks ago. There is not a bad seat in the house.

RADROBINLB