Jack Murphy (racing driver)
| Jack Murphy | |
|---|---|
| Born | John J. Murphy December 22, 1927 Lysander, New York |
| Died | September 5, 2013 (aged 85) |
| Retired | 1971 |
| Motorsport career | |
| Debut season | 1951 |
| Car number | 6 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1959, 1970 New York State Fair Champion | |
John "Irish Jack" Murphy (December 22, 1927 – May 2, 2013) was an American Modified and Supermodified racing driver. Equally skilled on asphalt and dirt-track stock cars, he won the inaugural Oswego International Classic in September 1957.[1][2]
Racing career
[edit]Murphy returned from the armed services in 1949 and teamed up with Fred Sass to build a sportsman stock car to compete at the Lafayette and Brewerton Speedways in Central New York. During the 1951 and 1952 racing seasons Jack dominated at the Oswego Speedway, capturing the track title in 1952.[3]
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Murphy was also a fixture at other area tracks, including Canandaigua Speedway, Dryden Speedway, the Monroe County Fairgrounds and the Syracuse Mile, while occasionally travelling to Capital City Speedway ON, Langhorne Speedway PA and Trenton Speedway NJ, where he set what was then a world's record for fastest time.[1][4][5][6]
Murphy served as an inspector for the International Supermodified Association after retiring from driving. He was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2000.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Skibinski, Tom (May 27, 2010). "Irish Jack Murphy holiday travel plans include Weedsport stop". DIRTcar. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "'Classic Moments' Countdown: #16 Murphy Over Swift – 1957 International Classic". Oswego County Today. August 15, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ Hill, John (March 10, 2000). "Motorsport Expo at fairgrounds". Syracuse Herald Journal. p. C5. Retrieved April 2, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Jack Murphy featured in stock car program". Ottawa Citizen. July 28, 1959. p. 14. Retrieved April 2, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Vince Conrad is entered in Trenton race". Reading Eagle. May 29, 1960. p. 24. Retrieved April 2, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Tarby, Russ (May 16, 2013). "Irish Jack Murphy crosses his final finish line". Eagle News Online. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
- ^ Gifford, Aaron (May 11, 2000). "Skill of the 'Irish' leads to Hall of Fame". Syracuse Herald-Journal. p. 16. Retrieved April 2, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.