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(Photo courtesy Steve LaMothe)

Murphy Wins At Petaluma; Has Strong Calistoga Weekend

By Gary Costa

Petaluma, CA – Calistoga, CA (September 4-6, 2009) – Peter Murphy would have a busy weekend on his hands, as the veteran shoe would compete in Friday's "Run What U Brung" Non-Wing open show at Petaluma Speedway. Then the Tarlton & Son, Inc., Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino No 21 would compete for two-days of USAC/CRA Sprint Car action on the famed Calistoga ½-mile.

Friday night would kick-off Murphy's busy weekend, and he made the trip worthwhile by sweeping the event over the 29 car field. Murphy took command of the feature event after misfortune struck race leader Andy Forsberg on lap 21, after tangling with another car. Murphy also had damage to his car with a bent drag link and a left front tire going down, but he managed to hold on, and take the 30 lap feature, en route to his seventh win of the season.

"That was a great race. Andy had us covered, but he got caught up with a lapped car," Murphy explained. "He was gone on open track, but in traffic, we were able to close in on him. He's one tough competitor, who can drive anything, and he will be back. I want to thank the Tarlton's and all of our sponsors that helped to make this trip possible."

After the team swapped out the 360 for the more potent 410, it was time to do battle with the stars and cars from the USAC/CRA Series at Calistoga Speedway for a two-day show. Murphy would be able to let it "hang out" more too, as he would put the Tarlton & Son, Inc., Maxim through its paces on the big ½-mile speedway.

After hitting the ½-mile in qualifying, Murphy would sit a respectable seventh on the grid with a 19.791 qualifying effort. Murphy lined-up the potent No. 21 on the outside of the third row. When the green flag flew, Murphy immediately put himself into a transfer spot for the 30 lap main event, by eventually crossing the line in third.

When the green dropped on the star-studded feature event, Murphy immediately began to move forward from his third starting spot. After moving around David Cardey, Murphy set his sights on race leader, Danny Sheridan, however, after jumping the cushion and sticking the right-rear deep into the cushion, the rim filled-up with mud, and Murphy's drive was cut short as he was forced to the work area. After rejoining the field, and as laps were running out, Murphy eventually finished a disappointing 16^th.

"The car was fast…real fast! I just made a tiny mistake, and it got us," Murphy said. "I had a blast racing with those guys though. It would've been neat to see what we could have done with them."

It would be more of the same the following night for Murphy. Murphy, who is a great qualifier, uncharacteristically qualified 19^th with a 20.313. "I just messed up. No excuses there", Murphy quipped. Murphy rebounded in his heat race by winning the 8 lapper convincingly over Kevin Swindell.

Murphy was getting himself primed for the 30 lap finale as he tightened the belts one last time going down the backstretch, knowing that he was going to have to get his elbows up from his 16^th starting position. And he did just that when the amber lights went green, as Murphy immediately set sail for cars in front of him, methodically picking his way through the pack. In the waning laps, the veteran shoe moved himself into the seventh position, where he would fend off any challengers for the spot.

"It was a good run. Of course we would have liked to finish further-up than where we did, but we'll take it. All in all in was a great weekend. We were fast in both the 360 and 410, and I'm proud of how the car performed," Murphy concluded.

The next race for Peter Murphy will come at the 56th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions this week at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.

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 Brown & Miller Racing Solutions.