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SOUTHERN
SHORT TRACK RACING NEWS
| Sean Murphy on a Roll Win's 3 in a Row | Sean Murphy and the SS-Green Light Racing team maintained their perfect season by winning the ASA Late Model Challenge Division Pride of Iowa 150 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night. By lap-13 Murphy had taken the ASI Limited; Akzo Nobel; Spectrum Metal Finishing Chevy from a 3rd place start to the lead. He began to pull away from the field but on lap-29 his door panel came loose and was flapping in the wind causing the car to lose speed.
Murphy had to make several pit stops to repair the door panel. The SS-Green Light Racing Crew and Sean Murphy had a fast car, but having to make stops early in the race placed them in the rear of the field. After getting the car repaired Murphy began driving back up through the field.
While working his way up through the pack he made contact with another car leaving heavy damage to the nose of his race car. Fortunately, the race format was 3-50-lap segments with a break in between each that allowed the team to fix repairs. In the final 50-lap segment Murphy started in the rear once again. It appeared Murphy and SS-Green Light Racing would not be contenders. But though a never give up attitude and lot's of hard work by the crew his car was still fast despite all the mishaps and damage.
With a battered race car decaled with duck tape, Murphy maintained a very fast pace. He cleanly drove through the field passing a car or two every few laps. On lap 144 he had reached second and on lap 145 took over the top spot. He drove away to his 3rd victory in 3-races of the 2008 season.
"This win goes to my crew, they won this race as much as I did," said Murphy. "We had early race damage then I knocked the nose off it. I really wasn't thinking at that point we would win. But these guys never gave up and kept getting me back on track."
The 2007 Rookie of the Year is proving he was deserving of the title last year. But this year he's driving like a long time veteran. It's only his second-ever touring late model series season.
"I don't really know what it is exactly that's different about this year. Last year we missed a lot of close races this year it's falling our way," expressed Murphy. "But what I do know is that I've had great race cars prepared for me each race and that's a huge part of it. I owe a lot to Butch (Miller), Deon (Deneau) and Troy (Smith) and the rest of the crew." "I think I'm driving pretty well right now too," added Murphy.
Sean Murphy will advance to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next weekend for the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park. Round 3 of the ASA Late Model Series - Challenge Division is scheduled for June 14th at Berlin (MI) Raceway.
For more information on Sean Murphy and SS Green Light Racing visit: www.SSGreenLight.com Contact: Shawn Stewart (704) 658-7265 shawn@ssgreenlight.com Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!
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