The first American to conquer Europe
Orphaned by the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, aged 11; the owner of a thriving Los Angeles garage while still in his teens; a riding mechanic of burgeoning repute before he turned 21; and a works racing driver at 25. Within two more years James (Jimmy) Anthony Murphy would become the first American winner of a grand prix in an American car – a feat matched once since.
Within three he would become the first owner/driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the first driver to win it from pole. And within five he would become a twice national champion of the world’s most competitive form of motor racing. Tragically, this king of the extremely fast and dangerous board tracks sprouting up across the United States would also be dead.
Murphy had just turned 30 when he paid the ultimate price for a fractional misjudgement. The neat style that made him such a force on those towering wooden bankings – and on his increasingly rare appearances in road races – left him little room for error on dirt ovals. He was not a fan, considering their surface to be too unpredictable, but this 150-miler at Syracuse, New York on 15 September 1924 was a round of
