Petersen Media- Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA, Peter Murphy survived a wild 40-lap feature from his 15th starting spot to claim the top prize in the biggest race of the KWS season that saw 38 cars check into the pits.
After rain washed out the initial running of the Bradway in May, sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted the racers and fans as they came to pay homage to these two former racers.
When the 40-lap tout got underway it was outside front row starter, Jonathan Allard getting the initial jump over pole sitter Tim Kaeding and Kyle Hirst.
A pair of yellow flags flew on the third and fifth laps slowing Allard as he got two great jumps and distanced himself from the field.
Once back underway on the fifth lap, Allard again quickly motored away from Kaeding and Hirst as the duo entertained the crowd as they exchanged the second position.
On the 10th circuit, Allard began to battle lapped traffic and Kaeding and Hirst closed in on his back bumper. As the lead trio carved their way through traffic, Willie Croft, Ian Madsen and a charging Peter Murphy, from the 15th spot, began to close in on them as the action through traffic heated up.
On the 19th lap the race took a turn as Kaeding and Allard made contact that saw the leader Allard com to a stop as Kaeding flipped and Kyle Hirst narrowly escaped contact to take over the top spot.
The restart saw Hirst lead the way with Croft, Madsen, Murphy and Brent Kaeding running in the top five.
Hirst quickly broke away from the field and began setting a torrid pace, as Allard, who restarted in the 16th spot, began working his way back through the field and entered the top ten again on the 21st lap.
The race again took an interesting turn on the 25th lap as the leader, Hirst, made contact with Rico Abreu sending his McMillen Motorsports No.2 upside down ending his bid for the win and handing the lead to Willie Croft with just 15 laps remaining.
Croft took the green with Murphy, Madsen, and BK chasing him down. As Croft broke away, Murphy and Madsen hooked up in an exciting battle for the second spot, with Murphy eventually winning the battle and setting his sights on Croft.
As Croft continued to lead Murphy, BK, Evan Suggs, and a hard charging Allard, Croft came to a stop in turn four with five laps remaining.
Murphy grabbed the reins on the 35th lap with BK, and Jonathan Allard hot on his tail. As Murphy continued to lead the way, Allard lost the handle with just three laps to go, setting up a shoot out to the finish with Murphy, BK, Roger Crockett, and a re-charged Tim Kaeding.
Murphy was able to keep the top spot and pick up the win as Roger Crockett worked the high side of the track to grab the second spot, and TK got passed BK as they came to the finish.
“This is just un-real,” said an emotional Peter Murphy. “I can’t say enough about this team as they gave me a great car and really help me out throughout the week as I run my business.”
The night started off with Allard setting quick time for his fourth consecutive Bradway, and heat race wins went to Mason Moore, Ian Madsen, Rico Abreu, and Tim Kaeding. Kaeding also won the dash giving him the pole position for the feature event.
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- Petersen Media on Jun 11, 2011
- Article Date: 6/11/2011