Story By: CAMDEN PROUD / OSWEGO SPEEDWAY – OSWEGO, NY – Longtime Snyder Racing crewman Brent Murray has given nearly half of his life to the zero team as a dedicated team member for regular pilot Tim Snyder, but for the month of June, Murray will get the opportunity of a lifetime to wheel Snyder’s Supermodified as a rookie driver at Oswego Speedway.
That opportunity began last Friday night at Oswego’s rookies only test session when Murray took his first ever laps in a race car of any kind. He impressed right away in the 900 horsepower big block, getting down to 18.3 seconds on tires used during Classic Weekend of 2017.
“This has definitely been a lifelong dream of mine,” Murray said. “Going out on Friday definitely gave me a different perspective on the horsepower and how they handle. That was pretty different to say the least.”
Murray began working on Supermodifieds in 1993 before crewing full-time for Snyder from 1994 until this day, including for the ‘Zero Hero’s’ shocking victory in the 2000 Budweiser International Classic 200. Snyder is in the middle of moving his family to New York and has called upon his faithful crew member to drive the car until he is able to get back in the seat next month.
“I’m so excited about this opportunity and I can’t thank Tim enough for doing what he did for me,” Murray added. “At the same time, I also can’t wait for him to get back in the car so we can be more competitive, but on the other hand though it’s definitely a lot of fun and I want to keep going.”
Wasting little time to get on the throttle Friday evening and taking over fifty laps around the speedway will certainly help any driver’s confidence going into the first race of his or her career. That was absolutely the case for Murray this past weekend.
“Friday definitely helped give me a little confidence,” Murray commented. “I think when we get some new tires on it, put a few more laps down, and change the setup a little bit I believe we can be a little quicker.”
The rookie contingent is strong in both divisions this season at the speedway with Tyler Thompson and Nathan Schultzkie already impressing as part of their Rookie of the Year battle in the Supermodified class. Much like any other rookie, Murray wants to finish races, be smooth, and keep the car in one piece.
“I want to try to complete every lap and every race smoothly,” stated Murray. “I need as many laps as I can. That’s half the battle. I think if we keep our nose clean we will be able to finish halfway decent. Most importantly, I want to keep the car in one piece and drive with my head.”
So, will the latest Supermodified rookie be bitten by the ‘bug’ and buy his own car when Snyder returns to the seat on July 7?
“I wish,” Murray laughed. “I have to thank Tim, all the crew guys, my wife for letting me do this, and the track for letting us come out Friday night for a free test session for all the rookies. That was pretty cool. We got to come out and do what we had to do.”
‘Spring Championship’ action at Oswego Speedway presented by A&P Auto Parts is set to get underway at the regular start time of 6:45pm this Saturday night with time trials for the Pathfinder Bank SBS and Novelis Supers taking place at 6:15pm. General admission seating is available for just $15 with kids 16 and under FREE.
