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Photo by Tim Holland
King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series event on July 26 at Thunderbowl Raceway to be dubbed the “Peter Murphy Classic” with extra money & excitement presented
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – July 3, 2014…On July 20 of last season the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series had one of its toughest nights in recent memory when popular driver Peter Murphy suffered injuries during a main event crash at the Antioch Speedway.
The result of the accident has ultimately forced Murphy to retire from Sprint Car racing as a driver, having suffered a traumatic brain injury, ligament damage in his neck, shoulder and knees, along with a compressed T-3 vertebra.
Despite that however, he has said time & time again that he has no ill feelings towards the sport. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find someone that has a bigger passion for the sport of Sprint Car racing than Peter Murphy.
Having said that, Murphy had hit the pavement and raised money with plans to beef up the Antioch Speedway event that was scheduled for KWS on July 26. With the scheduled show at the track recently canceled though, the King of the West 410’s will now invade the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on that same date. The event will also be known as the “Peter Murphy Classic.”
The money Murphy had raised will now go towards the night in Tulare, which happens to be the track where the Sydney, Australia native earned his first ever victory in the United States & took his final lap in April. The July 26 date will be just over a year since that night few will ever forget last year in Antioch.
“With the one-year anniversary of my wreck coming up I wanted to do something at Antioch to help make the night a special one for fans & teams,” said Murphy. “The last time we were there it wasn’t a very good ending, so I had planned to change that around this season and make it a memorable one for another reason. It’s unfortunate we can’t go to Antioch, but if there’s another track I’d want to do something special at it would certainly be the Thunderbowl Raceway.”
Murphy has raised $12,000 so far and now with the event being held in his backyard at the Thunderbowl, he is trying even harder to gather more. Details on how the money will be broken down will be out soon. His goal is to make the night a special one that people will remember and to get as many cars & fans to come out as possible.
“I really want this night to be a big one for all the fans and teams,” Murphy said. “The King of the West Sprint Car Series is one of the best Sprint Car tours you’ll find anywhere and Tulare will be great place to host an event like this. I still can’t thank everyone enough for all that they have done for me the last year. It’s been so humbling to have the support from people all over the world. This is kind of a way for me to give back and show how much I appreciate this sport we all love.”
The Dash during the night will also have a special twist thrown in. Rather than doing the standard eight car dash where all drivers compete for six laps, the night will see an Australian & New Zealand style Pole Shuffle thrown into the mix.
The eight dash cars will still be determined the same way as always, but drivers will race each other two by two for two laps, until the final pair go at it for a couple laps to determine the pole sitter. The drivers that draw 8 & 7 will race each other first, with the winner going against the driver that draws number 6. The process will go on until there are two drivers left standing.
Reserved grandstand seats for the “Peter Murphy Classic” on Saturday July 26 will cost $25 with general admission bleacher tickets $20. To reserve your seat contact (559) 688-0909. The front gate will open at 4pm with racing expected to get underway around 7pm.
The Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway is located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds on the corner of Bardsley and K Streets in Tulare, California. From the junction of SR 99 and SR 137, go west on SR 137. At South K go south one-half mile to the Fairgrounds. More info can be found at http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.kwssprints.com
Be sure to like the KWS Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/kingofthewestsprints and become a member of our Twitter community at https://twitter.com/KwsSprintRacing for all the latest breaking news regarding the series
Upcoming events for KWS
Saturday July 12: Ocean Speedway (Howard Kaeding Classic)
Saturday July 19: Placerville Speedway
Saturday July 26: Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway (Peter Murphy Classic)
Saturday August 2: Stockton Dirt Track
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www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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