When Elite Motorsports crew member Kelley Murphy made his NHRA Pro Stock debut at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, he found himself in the unenviable position of facing six-time world champion Erica Enders in round one. But that didn\u2019t dampen the excitement for the 28-year-old rookie, who was finally fulfilling a dream nearly a decade in the making.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve wanted to drive forever,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cI haven\u2019t missed one of our test sessions in Tulsa for the last 7 or 8 years, asking Richard [Freeman] if I can make a rip. He just always tells me I\u2019m an idiot. Now here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick Belden photo<\/p>\n
Murphy can usually be seen working on Troy Coughlin Jr.\u2019s yellow Jeg\u2019s machine, taking care of the back half of the car, maintaining the transmission, and packing the parachutes. In addition to all that, he also drives one of the team\u2019s rigs to national events and helps set up and take down awnings.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But adding \u201cPro Stock driver\u201d to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 would take another year. During dinner at the 2023 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, Enders asked Murphy what race he\u2019d want to race at if he had his choice. His answer was St. Louis, and he initially planned to debut there last season. But with multiple cars in the thick of the Countdown to the Championship, both Murphy and Freeman agreed it would be best to wait until the 2024 season opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earning his Pro Stock license the Wednesday before leaving for Gainesville, Murphy was finally ready to test his skills beyond the \u201869 Mustang he typically races in 5.0 Index back home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my first hurrah in Pro Stock, but not my first hurrah in a clutch car,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThe rhythm\u2019s really all the same with what you\u2019re doing in the car; the Pro Stock car is just way faster. I don\u2019t think I would have progressed as fast as I did if I hadn\u2019t had some prior experience in a slower car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy wasted little time getting into the show, running a 6.592 at 203.25 mph in Friday\u2019s first qualifying session. However, with two less than stellar runs after that, and a final session that got rained out, he slid down to the 16th position.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I rolled up to the water box on Friday, Sunday was the least of my concerns,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cI wasn\u2019t looking to go low E.T. or something stupid like that. You gotta qualify before you can race on Sunday. I clicked it off a little early on that first run; that was my fault. Luckily it was enough to get me in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Securing the final spot in the field earned him the aforementioned matchup against Enders, who qualified No. 1 with a 6.549-second run. Despite making his best run of the weekend \u2013 a 6.554 at 210.21 mph \u2013 Murphy fell to the defending world champion, who used a holeshot and blistering 6.496 elapsed time to send the rookie home. Still, Murphy viewed the round as a success.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still excited just to be able to do it,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThat sounds stupid, but I was honestly tickled to death to make it that far. I told Erica before we ran that I\u2019ve never looked forward to getting my ass kicked so much in my life. All things considered, we made a really nice run. I just got left on and beat by one of the best to ever do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting back on the weekend, Murphy says it was everything he\u2019d hoped for and more. And while there are no immediate plans for him to get behind the wheel again, he is confident there will be another outing at some point in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now, I\u2019m back to my regular duties taking care of the yellow car,\u201d admitted Murphy. \u201cAs far as driving, it\u2019s definitely wait and see. Just like everybody else, I need help funding-wise. We\u2019ve got the car, engines, equipment, and room to put it in the trailer. I just need a little bit of help. If it comes about, great; if it doesn\u2019t, that\u2019s okay too. I checked it off the list. I\u2019m happy to have had the first opportunity, even if it\u2019s the last.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post Kelley Murphy Relishes NHRA Pro Stock Debut<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Elite Motorsports crew member Kelley Murphy made his NHRA Pro Stock debut at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, he found himself in the unenviable position of facing six-time world champion Erica Enders in round one. But that didn\u2019t dampen the excitement for the 28-year-old rookie, who was finally fulfilling a dream nearly a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}