Peter Murphy racing Non-Wing in California.
Peter Murphy to pilot Anderson/Curtis No. 18 at the Dirt CupFor fans at Skagit Speedway, a familiar face will again be seen at this month's Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment after a few years absence. Peter Murphy is teaming up with Mike & Shaylen Anderson and Kris Curtis to take a stab at the $25,000 grand prize on June 18th, 19th and 20th.The Australian driver has long been a fan favorite whenever he has come to Skagit Speedway, and he himself has always enjoyed coming to the Washington state clay oval. When asked if he was excited to be going back to the Dirt Cup, his response with a strong Aussie-accent was "Hell, yeah! I love the place!"Murphy will pilot the No. 18 Shark-powered Rocket, co-owned by Mike & Shaylen Anderson and Kris Curtis and sponsored by Performance R/C Hobbies, Shark Racing Engines, Speedmart Inc, SignMart USA and Anderson Power Washing. It is the same black-colored car that Mark Dobmeier of North Dakota drove in last fall's Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway in California. He will be a teammate to Sedro-Woolley, Wash.'s Steve Kilcup.Murphy will get at least one race to familiarize himself with the car, as he is scheduled to race in June 13th's Pre-Dirt Cup tune-up race at Skagit. On Wednesday, June 16th at Noon, the fan friendly Murphy and Kilcup will both be signing autographs for fans at Performance R/C Hobbies in Burlington. Performance R/C Hobbies has long a strong supporter of M & S Motorsports.Over the past couple of years, Murphy has primarily resided and raced in California, running mostly without the wings and winning four total titles along the way. He has already won four non-wing sprint car events this season as well as put the wings back on and win a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series dash race. Murphy now will try to add the prestigous Dirt Cup to his resume.Murphy says some of his fondest memories of Skagit include setting fast time on both preliminary nights in the 2001 Dirt Cup, including setting a new track record that stood for more than a year. Murphy was driving the Morrie Williams No. 0 at the time and was also a former Dirt Cup preliminary feature winner in that car. Murphy also remembers, quite well, a couple of years earlier when a group of "beer belly guys" were walking the around the grandstands without shirts and some were clearly Murphy fans.Murphy has also driven for M & S Motorsports in the past, racing in a previous Dirt Cup. The M & S Motorsports team has also had a lot of success at Skagit Speedway over the years with several main event victories and a pair of track championships with Steve Kilcup behind the wheel. The Anderson, Curtis and Murphy hope they'll too be a winning combination in a couple of weeks.This year's Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment is the 38th running of the event and will pay out $150,000 over three nights, including the $25,000 first place prize on Saturday, June 20th. More information on Skagit Speedway can be found on its website at http://www.skagitspeedway.com. |
