Bowling Green, Kentucky – Jim Murphy grabbed a long-anticipated NHRA Heritage Series Top Fuel event win at the 15th Annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion with a 5.71 ET at 257 MPH over opponent Jim Young who posted 5.92 ET at 253 MPH. Murphy welcomed the victory after climbing to five consecutive Nostalgia Top Fuel final rounds marked by unfortunate flukes. "We’ve had a dry spell for a couple of years, so this feels really good. It’s nice to get the monkey off my back", said Murphy
Murphy drove the Roland Leong-tuned WW2 front engine Top Fuel dragster with remarkably consistent power and speed throughout the 8-car Eliminations battle, posting a 5.72 ET at 245 MPH Round One win over Julius Hughes in his Atlanta Speed Shop fueler and a 5.73 ET at 240 MPH Semi-Final clincher over March Meet winner Mendy Fry, who footed the High Speed Motorsports dragster to a 5.81 ET at 260.21 MPH against Murphy in a tight race that had the capacity crowd going wild.
Final round opponent Jim Young set low ET and Top Speed of the event with 5.61-seconds and 260.36 MPH and moved up the Eliminations ladder over Tyler Hilton in the Great Expectations III and Tony Bartone in the Semi-Final while fighting tire shake so severe that it warped sections of the Young Guns dragster body. The Wisconsin-based Young was shaken but unbowed. "We’re making good horsepower, now I just have to get it down the track. I wish we could have sealed the deal, but we had a good outing", said Young.
Jim Murphy and the WW2 were last victorious at Bowling Green in 2013 and took the points Championship the same year. His win at the 15th Annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky capped a weekend of blazing Top Fuel racing action that puts the California-based Murphy as current points leader moving into the 3rd race of the 5-race 2017 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Top Fuel Championship.
Next stop for the All American Fuel Dragster coalition is the 46th Pepsi NightFire Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho August 10-13. Be there! Head on over to www.nhrahotrodheritage.com for upcoming series race schedules, news, points, results, rules and more.
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