BLYTHE, Calif. -- Broc Murphy scored a ninth place finish during his official debut in the SuperClean Modified Racing Series, October 17th, at the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway in Blythe-California. This impressive debut was made in a car, and style of racing, that he has never dealt with in the past. He was driving the #70 Lucas Oil-Havasu Legends and Bandoleros modified car prepared by his family owned team After Hours Racing.

The fact that he ran so well in this debut in a car, and racing format, he's not familiar with should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever seen this Lancaster teen drive. For approximately a decade Broc Murphy has been winning features and track titles in a variety of cars including mini dwarfs, bandoleros, legends, late models and now open wheel modifieds.

Prior to his Blythe debut Murphy commented on the transition from late models to the more powerful modifieds. "The modifieds are a lot lighter and they're open wheel," he said adding "I've raced legend cars in the past so I understand the open wheel racing format. It's a lot more motor and a lot less tire. We run a (Hoosier) 970 threaded tire on the modified compared to a slick tire on the late model. The modified is real touchy car. You turn it and it's going to go in the direction you put it in."

Standing on the speedway's pit road with a big smile on his face was a proud dad, crew chief and spotter. Commenting on his youngest son's SuperClean Modified Series debut Jeff Murphy said . "it's all really quite impressive when you consider that we had some mechanical problems early in the day. Before qualifying he only got two laps on the track so when the main event started he only had a total of four laps in this car during his whole life. He qualified 14th and finished 9th with very little damage to the car. There were 23 cars out there, man that was brutal."

Broc Murphy's evening in Blythe was not completely free of incident during a race that was marred with many on track incidents. On lap 54 he was sent to the rear of the field after an unintentional hit sent the competitor in front of him into a spin. He was riding seventh in the race at the time. 14 laps later Murphy found himself in the middle of a situation, not of his making, that resulted in a multi car spin. Despite having to restart at the tail end of the lead lap line, he roared back through the field in the final laps of the race to salvage a top ten finish..

Following that first, lap 54, incident Muprhy immediately "manned" up to his responsibility and came over the radio and said "that was my fault and it was not intentional." There appeared to be a third car in that melee that officials were also going to send to the rear of the field. That didn't happen because spotter Jeff Murphy contacted the officials and assured them that the third driver was a victim and played no role in the spin out.

Commenting on that situation, Jeff Murphy said "that driver was going to be sent to the back and it just didn't look like the driver hit Broc. It was just a racing deal and we went to the back with no questions asked."

Interestingly enough, Jeff Murphy took the responsibility for the second incident that sent his car and driver to the rear of the field. "That second wreck was my fault," he said adding "I cleared him and everybody was laughing at me because after I cleared him he came down about the same time the 12 car got a run who hit him. As they were wrecking I said oops-not clear. I guess that I was more of a rookie spotter than he is a driver so that one was my fault."

Carefully watching Broc Murphy's rookie debut in this race was Greg Scheidecker. As the promoter of both the SuperClean Modified Racing Series and the Lucas Oil I 10 Speedway, it's his job to make sure that a rookie driver isn't getting over his head in a race filled with veteran open wheel drivers. Scheidecker said he really liked what he saw from Murphy that night.

He also liked what he heard during that lap 54 caution and said "I can tell you that I'm proud of him and his family. We had to make a judgement call on the race track tonight and, as it turned out, the Murphy team spotter stepped up and acknowledged that a third car was indeed not involved in that spin out. Broc said I got into the car in front of me, I didn't mean to. To me that says a lot for young Broc."

His smooth driving style also said a lot during this race. This race was a test session for After Hours Racing in order to evaluate future plans for their modified racing operation. It was apparent to everyone watching that Broc Murphy measured up in every way imaginable. The team's plans now calls for him to join the SuperClean Modified Racing Series full time next season as a candidate for their rookie of the year title. He will also, of course, being chasing checkered flags.