2012 360 Sprint Season

On the green flag the car was loose in, loose in the center and loose off, and there was nothing I could do about it except drive and keep it clean. I was sideways off every corner, if only this was dirt I would have been great. Several times I was three wide and sliding sideways, but I kept it clean. I did bounce off the wall after 2 once, after chasing the car up the track all the way to the wall, but I managed to finish 9th and be on the lead lap.
When you look at the photos, notice the front wheels are always pointed up towards the wall. That is me chasing the LOOSE car up to the wall on every exit.

This was the last race of the year, and I want to thank Mercury Insurance, Kevin Bowles, Brian Bowles and my Dad for all their support throughout the year.

Thanks guys, and I will win one of these in 2012 – you can bet on it. ]]> http://andrewmurrayracing.com/california-classic-2/feed/ 0 http://andrewmurrayracing.com/late-model-races-my-first-race-i-just-found-the-link/ http://andrewmurrayracing.com/late-model-races-my-first-race-i-just-found-the-link/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:05:18 +0000 Andrew http://andrewmurrayracing.com/?p=368 I just found this link.

Heat Race:
I only had to finish in the top 4 in the heats and keep the car clean for the main, which I was concerned about but I kept my head up and stayed clean.

This is a quick look at the start of the heat race. There was really only one groove on this race track, the bottom and without grip the outside was tough to hold on.

After finishing third in the heat race I had to start 22nd in the main.

Main Event:

This video is a summary of the race. I drove from 22nd to 6th and managed to get past 6 cars on the outside, I was even 4 wide at one time going into 3 . Once again I was able to keep the car clean, and managed to finish 6th, despite having overheat issues and not being able to drive at 100% throughout the whole race.

So this week is getting the car ready for Irwindale, for the California Classic, to be held on Saturday 26th November.

This is an open invitation for everyone to come out to the final race of the season and see the Mercury Insurance Impala on the race track one more time this year.

Once Thanksgiving break is over, I will be giving driver safety talks to Powoy High and Carlsbad High schools, over the two week period following the race.

Thank you for all your support this season
With a special thank you to

Mercury Insurance
Napa Auto Parts
K1 RaceGear
PC550 Holdings
K1 Speed
DH Graphics
My Family and Grandmother

See everyone there on Friday 25th for open practice

Thursday, Nov. 3 live at 9:30am, Fox Morning Show.

This was the first of three live interviews over the next two days.

KVVU Interview Andrew Murray 11-4-2011 – YouTube

Then Friday morning at 5:00am at the Las Vegas Bullring . This was a cool interview held right on the start/finish line, however I do ot have a video link available as yet.

Friday at 9:30am I was on the Morning Blend, ABC in Las Vegas.

http://www.vegasmorningblend.com/videos/133086568.html

What a weekend. Las Vegas Motor Speedway, hosted the Fall Classic Open Comp at the Bullring last weekend. This would only be my 8^th Late Model race, and my first time to the Bullring. Practice started off very well, especially when I posted the 2^nd fastest lap during the third practice session of the weekend. I continued to be in the top 10 during all practice sessions and was very confident that our car in race trim would be good. Qualifying was not the best, as the car bottomed out badly under brakes, something it had not done during practice, however my times were good and I started the heat race outside front row. This got me into the main event, however I would have to start 22^nd.

I knew that as long as I drove smart that the Mercury Insurance Impala would get me to the front.

There were 10 cars down from Canada, several from Arizona and other states across the US. , so I knew that the competition was strong. The top 24 cars were all within 2/10’s second in qualifying..

The start of the race was as usual eventful, with several wrecks occurring within the first 20 laps, but I was always looking way ahead and was able to avoid any carnage. During this period, I was just pacing the field and saving the car for the long runs, which I knew would come soon. On the first long green flag run, I was able to climb up to 15^th, during which time I had to pass several cars on the outside, something that is almost unheard of at the Bullring.

On the next green flag run, I worked my way up to 7^th and closing on 6^th when the caution came out again. In the double file restart, the car in front of my checked up, I lost all my momentum and slid back to 9^th. With only 10 laps to go, and not being able to turn on my brake fans, due to an overheat issues, I drove hard but not as hard as I could have, getting to 6^th place with 3 to go. I was really working my way into a top 5 finish and was only a few car lengths back when the checked flag came out.

Finishing 6^th from a starting position of 22^nd was an awesome result, and the car was untouched except for a slight scrape when I rubbed the wall when passing on the outside on lap 62.

I have included photos from the event on my webpage

http://www.andrewmurrayracing.com/photos/racing

I would like to thank Mercury Insurance for all their assistance, my team and Kevin Bowles, the car owner and crew chief.

Started the day off with a 7:00am interview on the PitPassUSA Network with Larry Henry. We chatted about racing and then most importantly about “Don’t Text and Drive” This campaign is collaboration between Mercury Insurance and myself this year and so far I believe that it is having an impact on society.

Earlier this week, I received a link to the United States Department of Transportation website where they have referenced our work to fight Distracted Driving

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/10/young-nascar-racer-fights-distracted-driving.html

At 8:30 today, I gave my first or two talks at Temecula Valley High School to all the Juniors and Seniors at this school. I really like giving these talks, not only do I reach a lot of people at once but they get to discuss the problem amongst themselves.

I had brought my Mercury Insurance 360 USAC Sprint car to this talk, however I was not given the okay to start the car at this venue. Starting this car always gets a lot of attention.

720HP in a 1400lb car, even idling gets a lot of attention.

I end all my talks with thanking my sponsors,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRQw2l6GFvM

and then I have a question and answer period when I ask the students questions about the stats of “Texting and Driving”. Questions such as “How many teenagers will be involved in a life threatening accident this year due to texting and driving”. I pick out students to answer the questions and if they get it correct, they receive a FREE race at K1 Speed.

After each talk, everyone is invited outside to look at the race car, ask questions, receive a signed hero card and brochures of Mercury Insurance discounts for Good Student, and other offers my sponsors may have at the time.

I want to thank everyone for their support in this effort especially Mercury Insurance.

Andrew Murray

andrewmurrayracing