HANFORD, Calif. — A crown jewel of the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series schedule, the Peter Murphy Classic is on tap for April 13 at Kings Speedway.
The winner of the main event will collect a whopping $11,000 paycheck and etch their name on the prestigious winner’s list of the famed event.
The race pays homage to Kings Speedway promotor and longtime NARC competitor Peter Murphy. One of this events special features is a unique “pole shuffle” where two cars at a time will take on the three-eighths-mile clay oval to decide the main event’s starting lineup at the front of the field.Â
“I’m super excited to have this event come back to Kings,” said Murphy, a transplanted Australian and open-wheel racing enthusiast. “Last year’s pole shuffle was breathtakingly amazing, and the main event was a cracker, too, so come on out and bring a friend because Hanford is the place to be on Saturday night!”
This will be the third round of the highly-competitive 65th anniversary season of the NARC tour and the second five-digit payday for the main event winner.
The companion division for the evening is the IMCA Stock Cars.
Who to Watch
Dominic Scelzi is looking to continue to reign supreme of the PMC. The Fresno, Calif. driver has been on the road battling it out with High Limit Racing and World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series tour and is looking to come back to his native California and hit pay dirt. The 2021 and 2022 NARC champion is the three-time defending winner of the Peter Murphy Classic.
NARC point leader Cole Macedo wants to take the $11,000 winner’s check to the Tarlton Motorsports No. 21. The Lemoore, Calif. sensation bagged a $10,000 payday at the Mini Gold Cup in March and backed it up at the Stockton Dirt Track’s Asparagus Cup last Saturday. Macedo has three top-five finishes at Kings when NARC has been to town and was runner-up in the second main event of the Morrie Williams Memorial.
Last October, Justin Sanders finally broke into victory lane at Hanford when he won the opening main event of the Morrie Williams Memorial. Once again piloting the Mittry Motorsports No. 2X, the Aromas, Calif. driver has five podium finishes at the three-eighths-mile oval and was fourth at last year’s Classic.
The last time NARC was on hand at Hanford, hometown driver D.J. Netto beat out the competition in the final feature of the Morrie Williams Memorial to score a big win for the team. Undoubtedly, the 2019 NARC champion is hungry to add the Peter Murphy Classic to his already decorated resume.
Eighteen-year-old Dylan Bloomfield is a rising star in the NARC 410 Sprint Series. The Oakley driver has twice finished the Vertullo Racing No. 83V entry among the top 10 at Kings and is looking to be among the podium finishers on Saturday night. He was 14th last year.
Campbell, California’s Bud Kaeding is looking to build off a top five finish last fall at Hanford. The 2017 NARC champ was fourth in the final race at King’s in October 2023 and scored a victory at the facility on June 2nd, 2012. He was among the Top 10 at the 2022 Peter Murphy Classic when he posted a ninth-place result.
Justyn Cox has been very close to conquering Kings twice. The Roseville, Calif. racer was runner-up in the first feature of the Morrie Williams Memorial last October and did the same thing the previous year but in the second main event. Will the Bates-Hamilton Racing No. 42X slay the competition at the PMC?
The large 2024 rookie class will also be on hand, including Caeden Steele, Gauge Garcia, Michael Ing and Dominic Gorden.Â