Murphy Qualified #2,
Hard Luck Loss First Round
Bakersfield,
CA - March 11, 2020:
Coming into the
62nd annual Good Vibrations March Meet, Jim Murphy was not only
chasing his elusive and record breaking 6th March Meet win, but
was hoping to get a leg up on his quest for the Hot Rod Heritage
National Championship.
Murphy, who committed
early on to run all 5 points races this year, has been relentless
in finding a competitive tune-up without hurting parts which
has been his bane the last two seasons. All the testing he and
right-hand man Daniel Wilkison have done has been heading in
the right direction and getting close to their 5.5 goal.
After qualifying
#2 with a stout 5.636 at
252,24, Jim
had lane choice in the first round of eliminations against Tyler
Hilton. At the stripe it
was Hilton with a sub-par 6.084 at 227.04 hole-shot win. Murphy
slowed to a 6.027 at 180.77.
It was a holeshot
loss due to a throttle linkage malfunction. Once again Murphy's
Law prevailed. "It seems
that if we didn't have bad luck we would have no luck at all.
We had a problem with the throttle linkage, it got a bit out
of time and leaned out the engine on the burnout and pinched
a couple rings. This made some pan pressure and our Dave Leahy
device (set at 7 lbs.) shut the engine off at seven hundred feet
and we lost by one, one hundred of a second. That’s the
bad part; the good part is it is looking like it's ready to start
running".
The season is
scrambled due to CH-19 so hopefully they can head to the Nightfire
Nationals at Firebird Raceway
in Boise, ID in August which is the next scheduled event.
We now present
WW2 Racing's 2020 March Meet in photos.
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First Qualifying
Session - Friday
As the second pair in the session
Jim Murphy was paired with rookie Tyler Hester in the Tedford
& McGee "Overtime Special". Murphy was in his WW2
Racing entry. Murphy was back seeking his elusive March Meet
win #5 which would break his tie with Garlits.
Before the tree Murphy
went into tire smoke. Back to the drawing board.
Second Qualifying
Session - Saturday
Pair two of session two
featured a rematch of Jim Murphy and Tyler Hester.
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Murphy jumped up to the
#4 hole with a 5.790 at 235.15 while Hester slowed to a 6.510
at 152.35.
Some candid shots of
the crew doing routine maintenance before the final qualifying
session.
3rd Qualifying
Session - Saturday Afternoon
Prior to the first round of funny
car it was the last chance for the top fuel cars to get into
the show or improve their position.
The first of 3 pairs
out was Jim Murphy and Tyler Hester ironically matched for the
third time.
Murphy stepped up big time with
a 5.636 at 252,24 which landed him #2 just .003 behind the leader.
Hester coasted through remaining #6 with his Q1 5.841.
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FINAL FIELD
1. 706 Pete Wittenberg, Anaheim,
CA. 5.607. 254.81
2. 774 Jim Murphy, Santa Rosa, CA. 5.636, 252,24
3. 710H Bryan Hall, Rio Oso, CA. 5.762, 239.23
4. 7238 Bret Williamson, Gilroy, CA. 5.761, 253.14
5 7736 Dan Horan Jr., Sylmar, CA. 5.796, 248.20
6. 761 Tyler Hester, Visalia, CA. 5.841, 221.67
7. 379 Tyler Hilton, Cincinnati, OH. 5.851, 233.24
8. 752 Dusty Green, Pleasant Hill, CA. 5.903, 211.73 |
Round One
of Eliminations - Sunday 11am
With a chilly Saturday behind
them, Sunday offered kinder weather and great race conditions.
Murphy was paired with Justin Hilton in the opening stanza.
Hilton got a full tenth
jump and Murphy gave chase.
At the stripe it was Hilton with
a sub-par 6.084 at 227.04 hole-shot win. Murphy had a throttle
linkage issue and slowed to a 6.027 at 180.77.
Murphy after the pass was disappointed
again. "It seems that lately if we didn't have bad luck
we would have no luck at all. We had a problem with the throttle
linkage, it got a bit out of time and leaned out the engine on
the burnout and pinched a couple rings. This made some pan pressure
and our Dave Leahy device (set at 7 lbs.) shut the engine off
at seven hundred feet and we lost by one, one hundred of a second.
That’s the bad part; the good part is it is looking like
it's ready to start running".
Despite going home earlier than
they wanted to, Murphy was pleased with the progress they made
and more importantly, they did not hurt parts. Next stop was
supposed to be Bowling Green, KY for the NHRA National Hot Rod
Reunion. But due to the Chinavirus that was moved out to the
tentative dates of August 20-22 at Beech Bend Raceway. The remainder
of the 2020 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series schedule have not announced
date changes.
2020 Race Schedule
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Untitled Document
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