Jim Murphy
and his WW2 Racing team were really looking forward to the 39th
Nightfire Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho. They
have been match racing the past few months and getting a real
handle on the car. After winning the Boise opener, they went
to Denver & Salt Lake City so there was a lot of confidence
going back to Boise.
Fast forward
to Sunday, although he just missed the win, with his runner-up
finish Murphy leapfrogged over Adam Sorokin the take over the
2010 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Top Fuel points lead with one
race remaining. Over three days of a mixed bag of Idaho weather,
and an auspicious and somewhat scary start, Murphy improved every
run and his 5.89 just fell short of Brett Harris' 5.83 in the
final.
After qualifying
#1 in the first session on Friday with a 6.01, Murphy had a bad
situation in the first session on Saturday. After a great leave
the car started to shake about 150” and when he went to
lift he discovered the throttle pedal was hung wide open. The
car started smoking the tires hard (1960’s style) and continued
to a little past half track. Jim pulled the fuel shutoff at that
point and backfired the supercharger and broke the manifold.
Expensive yes, but for a less experienced driver a stuck throttle
could have a catastrophic result. Due to the breakage they missed
the Saturday session and focused on getting everything race ready
for Sunday.
In eliminations
Murphy got the best of Mark Malde in round one with a 6.04 at
221. In round 2 Jim had to race the always tough Rick White and
won with a 5.989 at 236.65. With the short field car count Murphy
got the 3rd round bye but legged it through with a 5.927 at.
224.83. This brought the two best cars on the property to the
finals which went to Harris in the closest of races.
This sets up
a three way a three way battle for the championship at the upcoming
NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion with only 26 points separating
Murphy, Sorokin and Brad Thompson. Figuring in qualifying points,
that is only one round of racing.
"It's been
too long since we've won a championship and the way I see it
now its ours to lose at Bakersfield", states Murphy. "Tim
(Beebe) and myself have a lot of confidence in our car going
into the final race and can't wait to lock horns with the kids."
Jim hopes all
the fans will attend the CHRR to cheer them on and stop by their
pit for a visit.
