The first qualifying session went off on Friday afternoon. The next to last pair was Jim Murphy in his WW2 Racing entry and Shane Stewart in his SBC powered car out of Texas.

Green went up in smoke early while Murphy jumped into the top 8 with a 5.84 at just 208.78.

Final qualifying session, after which the ladder would be set. Pair two pitted Jim Murphy and Brian Hall, it would be eventful.

Hall would thunder down the quarter mile with a career best 5.886 at 246.89 but it came at a cost, one really bad fire.

Hall would qualifiy in the #8 spot but had a full nights work ahead of them. Murphy landed in the 5th hole with a 5.768 at 256.89.

Sunday noon. Following the National Anthem Pete Wittenberg and Jim Murphy were paired up to see who would go to the semis.

Murphy left first, and then he didn't. Before the tires could wrinkle the input shaft broke. Call it good luck. Had it happened at the 330' mark, ala Mendy Fry in 2019, the damage would have been catastrophic. Nonetheless, it put an exclamation mark on a forgettable season.

So ended the 2022 campaign. No cheers, no parities. Just a trip back to Santa Rosa to contemplate the 2023 season. Looking back the 2022 March Meet where Murphy was runner-up the team was up and ready for more. Match race in Denver then it was off to St. Louis for a 16 car show.Everything was great.

Up next was Boise, a points race, but Jim arrived there sick and it went downhill from there. His judgement was off, he could not make good decisions and the race was a round one loss. Thinking he was better they headed for the Nitro Nationals at Tulsa, OK and he go even worse.... he had let a cold/flu turn into pneumonia. Tulsa was a DNQ and Jim spent the next two months recuperating. Feeling better they were all up for the CHRR but that too ended in disappointment.

That's it in a nutshell. The team will be going into 2023 with a new car look, a new attitude and most of all, healthy. Come see us at Bakersfield in March. Will be looking for the elusive 6th win.