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July 7, 2015 Posted by  in Uncategorized

Alex Murray Looking For Bojangles Summer Shootout Series Turnaround In Race Six

CONCORD, N.C. - Alex Murray, 15, of Concord has not had a lot of cooperation from lady luck in the first five races of the ten race 22nd Annual Bojangles Summer Shootout Series for INEX Legends and Bandolero cars at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this summer.

Showing speed at times but also being caught up in others' incidents or pitting early with mechanical issues throughout the first half of the series, Alex and his team are heading to the famed track tonight with the goal of making the last five races a much better showing of what they are capable of.

"The last couple of weeks, we've been bothered by some sort of power or fuel pickup issue or something," Alex said. "When the motor gets hot it starts bogging and just has no speed. We've worked all week to figure it out. I'm optimistic that if we can just put that behind us, the car has the speed and the setup it needs to have for me to race competitively in the pro division, which is a new division for us this year. I have faith in the car and in myself, but sometimes these power issues can be hard to find, especially if they're electrical in nature. I'm ready to go race for top fives and wins in the second five races. I want to put this Racing with Ryan/Shamrock Auto Care No. 22 up front where it belongs!"

Tonight is the usual Monday night practice session at the track, while qualifying and racing get underway on Tuesday afternoon.

If you can't make it out to the speedway to watch Alex on Tuesday night, check out www.goprn.com for information on the internet pay-per-view video broadcast for this summer's racing, or follow Alex Murray Racing on Facebook, or his website (www.alexmurrayracing.com) to keep up with the latest news.

Alex Murray Looking Forward To Round Five Of Bojangles Summer Shootout

CONCORD, N.C. - Alex Murray's first four races in the 22nd Annual Bojangles Summer Shootout INEX Legends Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway have been a learning curve.

Competing in the Pro division for the first time in this series, Murray, 15, and his team have been gaining speed each time out, until last week.

"A problem developed with the fuel line or something in the fuel pickup," the personable racer said of his early exit from last Tuesday night's feature event. "We just weren't getting enough fuel to the motor. We've got the car handling much better. We just have to put it all together. I know we'll get it figured out and I'm excited about this week's race so we can go out and show what we can do."

Of his adjustment to the Pro division, Alex says it has definitely been a challenge, but one they were expecting when the series started.

"We knew that we didn't have the budget that some teams have to race several times a week and start in the spring," he explained. "But when we looked at what we wanted to accomplish in the Shootout, we thought it was better to step up to Pro and challenge ourselves to learn to run up front with the best than to stay down and run up front against drivers who weren't as experienced or were younger. We have a top five car. We just need to get the bugs out of it and we'll be good."

Tonight is the usual Monday night practice session at the track, while qualifying and racing get underway on Tuesday afternoon.

If you can't make it out to the speedway to watch Alex on Tuesday night, check out www.goprn.com for information on the internet pay-per-view video broadcast for this summer's racing, or follow Alex Murray Racing on Facebook, or his website (www.alexmurrayracing.com) to keep up with the latest news.

From The Driver's Seat - Alex Murray Talks About The First Three Races At Charlotte Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. Hello everyone, this is Alex Murray, driver of the Shamrock Auto Care No. 22 in the U.S. Legends Car Pro division at the Bojangles' Summer Shootout.

It's been a wild and crazy opening to the summer so far, and it's hard to believe we're already a third of the way through this year's series!

So far this year's Shootout hasn't gone as our team had planned, at all. Round One threw a big curve ball at us - mainly because we've never run with the Pros - so it was a big step-up for us as a group and me as a driver.

The race was postponed and went virtually green to checkered on Tuesday, because of a thunderstorm that struck right as we were getting in our cars the first Monday night.

The race was a good one overall - I qualified 9th out of 13 - but we had been struggling with the car and felt that because I was running with the 'big boys,' that we would need to step our game. We finished 10th in the first feature, but hoped for more if we could get the car better. Round Two, on that same Tuesday, was basically all the same for myself and my team - we struggled in qualifying but had a fast race car in the race.

On lap 5 we were turned after racing clean and hard with the No. 3 car of Drew Brown. I guess he just didn't like the fact he couldn't get by me fair and square, so he felt the need to turn me around.

After that incident, I fought my way up to sixth after a few cautions, but after a caution on lap 12 or 13, I restarted sixth and I got turned in front of the whole field. I'm just glad we are "Pros," because I have no clue how I didn't get hit!

Round Three was a whole different race for myself and my team. Following the Monday practice, we fought a very ill-handling car and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Luckily we were able to find it after qualifying on Tuesday, and were able to contend for a top five.

Our biggest problem was just that we didn't have a car that could pass.

The team and I just held our heads high and hoped for the best going into the race, and we managed to come home with a 10th place finish in that race as well.

Without the crew behind me, I would not be doing as solidly as I am my first year in the Pro class. I have to thank everyone who turns a wrench on the car and works with me as a driver, including Shamrock Auto Care, Adam, Justin, my dad and Coach Tom!

We're on track for Round Four tomorrow night, with heat race action kicking off at 5 p.m. If you haven't ever come out to see what the Shootout is all about, come check out the racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway - and say hi if you pass the No. 22 trailer.

If you can't make it out to the speedway, check out www.goprn.com for information on the internet pay-per-view broadcast for this summer's racing, or follow Alex Murray Racing onFacebook or his website (www.alexmurrayracing.com) to keep up with the latest news on me and my team.

Thanks to the fans for all their support! Let's go racing!

Alex Murray Confident Going Into Bojangles Summer Shootout Series Race Three

CONCORD, N.C. - "For being turned twice and having a broken header, this was a pretty good night."

Those were the optimistic words of 15-year-old INEX legends racing pro division racer Alex Murray after bringing his Shamrock Auto Care No. 22 home eighth in the second of two features he ran on Tuesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished tenth in the first feature earlier in the evening.

Making his debut in the pro division, Murray fought a tight race car early in the day through qualifying, but his team corrected the problem for the second 25-lap race of the night.

Lady luck just didn't cooperate.

He got spun on lap five and then a header broke in the motor on lap 15 and he got turned again as well, hampering what could have been a top five finish for the outgoing racer, who was also interviewed on the Performance Motorsports Network's Motorsports Madness show, broadcast live from the track on Monday evening.

"If you just look at the finishes it doesn't look like we did very good tonight," Alex said. "But I look at it like we learned a lot about the drivers I will be racing against in pro and I think we were capable of a top five finish in the second race but we just had some bad luck. We knew going into the shootout that we were going to be challenged and I know we'll get better and better each race. We ran better tonight than our finish showed, especially in the second race."

Elaborating on the special two-race week, Murray said, "They race on Monday and Tuesday the first and last weeks of the series. Every other week we just practice on Monday and race Tuesday. But, our feature race got rained out last night so we had to run it tonight. That's why we had two races today instead of the usual one."

When asked if he felt like the pro division was tougher than he anticipated, he was quick to shake his head no. "We were expecting pro to be tough. That's why we moved up. I want to race against the toughest competition I can because that's going to make me sharper. I'm trying to get to NASCAR and I cannot be prepared to compete at that level unless I challenge myself as much as possible on my way up the ladder. I'm excited about the next eight races and how much improvement in myself and our race car we are going to make."

June 5, 2015 Posted by  in Uncategorized

Solid Second Place For Alex Murray at Concord Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. - It has been a few months since 15-year-old Alex Murray strapped into his INEX legends car and took to the track under racing conditions. Last weekend at Concord Speedway, he made his return with new colors and nearly stole the show, finishing second to Chase Purdy on the tight 1/4-mile oval.

Starting second alongside Purdy in the feature, Murray drag raced him into turn one and then slipped up just enough off turn two to allow Purdy to gain the advantage. That was all Chase needed

A lap 18 caution gave Alex one last shot. "I ran with him for three laps and then my left rear brake started locking up," the driver said. "The car just got too loose in. I had a great race near the end with Blake Spears. Thankfully, I was able to keep him behind me!"

The result was highly satisfying for Alex and his team, given the flurry of activity that has taken place since the end of the Winter Heat series at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he last raced.

"We've had a lot going on to get ready for the Summer season," Murray explained. "Especially the Summer Shootout at Charlotte. We ended up getting in a wreck the last race of Winter Heat, so we had to fix some things. We went completely through the car, rebuilt the motor, changed colors and even got me a new helmet. It's been busy!"

Explaining the reason behind the color change, Murray added, "My father changed the name of his business to Shamrock Auto Care, and we didn't figure that red and green would go too well together on the car. We made the car black, and we really like the way it looks. I feel like that run on Saturday gives us a real boost of confidence going into the Shootout. We were fast right off the trailer."

AM Racing Partner Back With New Name

Shamrock.Auto.Care.LogoConcord, N.C. - Alex Murray, 15, of Concord, North Carolina is a busy young man these days. In addition to his studies at Jay M. Robinson High School, he is in the process of putting his INEX Legends Car back together for 2015 competition.

Additionally, his main corporate partner, Get 'N Gear Auto Care, is back on board for this season with a name change. The Monroe, N.C. area automotive service shop is now known as Shamrock Auto Care.

Shamrock is a full-service shop located at 3611 Old Charlotte Highway in Monroe, N.C. The Shamrock team provides top notch professional service to all makes and models of vehicles at fair prices.

Murray is ready to get back behind the wheel, but he knows that it's more important to be prepared to win when he does and to pick his races carefully.

"We're going through the car very carefully to make sure everything's fixed from the last wreck we got into at Charlotte during the winter heat," the youngster said. "We're taking advantage of the time we have before the Summer Shootout to make sure we have what we need to race for wins there when we unload."

Alex Murray Completes Winter Heat Series With Top Five Trifecta

Concord, N.C. -15-year-old Legends racer Alex Murray capped off his consistent 2015 Winter Heat Series campaign with a trio of solid performances, notching three top-five finishes in the final three features of the eight-race series on Saturday and Sunday.

Faced with a doubleheader on Saturday, Murray was undaunted by the challenge of a quick turnaround and back-to-back 20 lap events, starting from the outside of the front row in Round Six and quickly falling in line in fourth behind John Holleman and Stevie Johns. Murray picked off Holleman in the opening laps to move to third behind Johns, and spent the rest of the race all over the rear bumper of the No. 91.

Despite not quite having the steam to get around Johns for the runner-up result, the third-place finish tied Murray's best finish of the Winter Heat to that point.

"The first race was really good - that was really fun (fighting) with Stevie," Murray said. "You know, I was just trying not to get into him and race him clean - have respect for him as a fellow racer. We ran well and we kept the car in one piece, and that's important in those doubleheaders."

Murray followed up his efforts in the first feature with a brilliant performance in the second Saturday main, qualifying second-fastest and starting on the pole after the redraw. From the top spot on the grid, Murray took off to a full second advantage and held the lead for the first 16 laps of the feature before a spin by the No. 18 of Matthew Moermond - right in front of Murray in turn three - forced the young racer to take evasive action through the grass. By the time the caution came out, Murray had lost the lead and lined back up in the third position, ultimately losing grip in the final four lap dash and finishing fourth.

"I kind of saw (the spin) coming, because he was all over the race track and always loose going into the corner," Murray said. "I just drove it in and he got loose again and lost it. If I'd gone low I would have nailed him so I went high and he rolled up there with me and just left me with nowhere to go."

Despite the disappointment of coming so close to his first Winter Heat victory, Murray used the situation as fire and motivation for the Sunday finale to the Winter Heat, qualifying and lining up third on the grid after finishing runner-up in his heat race.

Murray would use the inside lane to his advantage and move to second behind Stevie Johns on the opening lap of the 20-lap finale feature, but would have to rally after being sent spinning on lap four from a three-wide maneuver where he was pinched down with nowhere to go.

Despite the odds, Murray used a fast car and the advantage of the "choose" to rebound all the way to second after the spin, his best finish of the 2015 Winter Heat Series.

"I'm not sure what happened there on lap four," Murray said. "They went three-wide down the back and someone hit the wall and another car came across my nose and sent us spinning down the track. I got t-boned by the 18 (Matthew Moermond) and I'm glad he's okay, but the car was still in one piece thankfully."

"I just had to drive it and we got all the way back to second. It was a great way to end our Winter Heat, even if we didn't get the victory we wanted."

Murray's combined results placed him third in the final Winter Heat points standings.

Alex Murray Revved Up For Charlotte Tripleheader

Concord, N.C. - Alex Murray, 15, of Concord is looking forward to this weekend's INEX Legends Tripleheader finale' to the Winter Heat Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Coming off a strong third place finish, Alex says he is looking for a win in one of this weekend's three Semi-Pro features.

"We were on old tires last weekend," the personable racer said. "That makes just enough of a difference in speed that it's hard to keep up with Christian (Eckes) and Dillon (Faggart). We have new rubber for this weekend, so I'm hoping we can be racing for the win. I just need to be smart behind the wheel and stay smooth and I think we have a chance. We're very close on speed."

For Murray, this season is about getting the most out of himself and the car on the track, and building the right relationships off it.

"I'm still learning of course, but I know we have the car to win. My Dad and my team have seen to that. We don't have the funding that some others do to buy tires as often, so we have to do everything we can to get more out of what we have. I would love to work with a company that would enjoy having us do appearances for them and represent them in a professional way. A sponsor or two would help us to have the tires we need and to run more races. I want to win races, and I believe we can do that. We're getting closer every time out!" Read more

Winter Heat Nears

As the cold weather pushes further south, the engines are starting to heat up. Starting this Saturday (January 10th, 2015) the first round of the Winter Heat at Charlotte Motor Speedway starts. After driving his tail off, Alex finished a respectable 5th place overall in his first run as a Semi-Pro in Concord Speedway's 2014 Gobbler Open race.

Alex brings back his main partner, Get 'n Gear Auto Care and Performance and his familiar "red rocket" #22 for the 2015 season. Stay tuned to AlexMurrayRacing.com for further updates.

Racing with Ryan

1Alex will be running the decal below to honor his neighbor, crew member’s brother, and #1 fan, Ryan Beckett, who recently passed away.
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