Motorsport Memorial -

Jimmy Murphy

Complete name: James Anthony Murphy

Birth date: 12.Sep.1894

Birth Place: San Francisco, CA, United States

Death date: 15.Sep.1924

Death Place: Syracuse, Onondaga County, NY, United States

Nationality: United States

Gender: male

Age at death: 30

Event date: 15.Sep.1924

Series: American Automobile Association National Championship

Race: Syracuse 150-Mile Race

Event type: race

Country: United States (New York)

Venue: New York State Fairgrounds

Variant: 1.0-mile dirt oval (1903, 1905, 1909-1911, 1919-1941, 1946, 1949-present)

Role: driver

Vehicle type: car

Vehicle sub-type: single seater

Vehicle brand/model: Miller

Vehicle number: 2

Notes:

Jimmy Murphy
1894 - 1924

Jimmy Murphy at the wheel of his Duesenberg, with riding mechanic Ernie Olson, before the start of the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, Le Mans, 26 July 1921.
Author: Agence Rol. Agence Photographique (France). Bibliothèque Nationale de France collection, public domain.

One of the national sports celebrities through his daring exploits on tracks, Jimmy Murphy became iconic, being revered by race fans. In his brief career of five years, he became an American sporting hero and earned a fortune from racing. The first American race car driver to win an European Grand Prix in an American car - the 1921 French Grand Prix at le Mans, in a Duesenberg - he won the 1922 Indianapolis 500, and the AAA-American Automobile Association's National Driving Championship in 1922 and 1924.

The son of Irish immigrants, James Anthony Murphy was born in San Francisco, California, in 1894. After the death of his mother, when he was two years old, he was orphaned in 1906 when his father died in the San Francisco earthquake. Jimmy was raised by his uncle and aunt in Vernon, Los Angeles. Jimmy Murphy started his career as a riding mechanic in his early twenties, winning a 300-mile road race in Corona, east of Los Angeles in 1916, sitting beside veteran driver Eddie O'Donnell, in a Duesenberg.

Jimmy Murphy rode as mechanician - as riding mechanics were then known - with some of America's greatest drivers of the time, including Eddie Rickenbacker, Ralph De Palma and his friend Tommy Milton, the Duesenberg team's number one driver. Convinced just by Milton, the brothers Fred and August Duesenberg offered Murphy a chance to take the wheel of a Duesenberg race car, at the Uniontown Speedway, Pennsylvania in 1919. Murphy’s first race ended in a crash but his maiden victory came in February 1920, at the new Los Angeles Speedway board track in Beverly Hills. That same year he finished a remarkable fourth at his debut in the Indianapolis 500, behind his Duesenberg team mate Milton, third.

Before the end of the year, however, Murphy's friendship with Milton came to an abrupt end. Milton and Duesenberg had planned a new World Land Speed Record attempt at Daytona, Milton himself had helped design and build the twin-engined record car. While he was racing in Havana, Cuba, Fred Duesenberg sent Jimmy Murphy off to Daytona to test the new machine and, despite the test runs were not officially timed, Jimmy Murphy drove faster than the previous record, running 154 mi/h (247.79 km/h). Milton was furious, disgusted by Duesenberg who had encouraged Murphy to break the record. The rivalry between Milton and Murphy was exacerbated and soon Milton left the Duesenberg team. The death of Gaston Chevrolet in November 1920 left open a spot on the Frontenac team, that Milton was invited to fill, winning the Indy 500 the next year.

Jimmy Murphy was selected to drive a 3-litre Duesenberg in the 15th edition of the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, scheduled to be held on a 17.260-kilometer (10.7-mile) public roads course at Le Mans, on 26 July 1921. Team Duesenberg had entered four cars, painted in America's white and blue international racing colors, for Murphy, Boyer and French drivers Albert Guyot and Louis Inghibert. The latter was involved in a huge crash when acting as riding mechanic for Murphy during some test laps, a week prior to the race. While running at speed, a wheel locked and Murphy lost control of the car and crashed. Both Jimmy and Inghibert were thrown out of the cockpit and were admitted to a hospital with broken ribs and internal injuries. The Frenchman retired from the event, but Jimmy Murphy was determined to compete, although he was confined to a hospital bed until several hours before the race. He was tightly bandaged from his hips to his armpits and, to the consternation of the French race marshals, he was lifted into the car, along with his riding mechanic Ernie Olsen and started the race.

Fitted with hydraulic four-wheel brakes, the "Duesies" dominated the 30-lap race. Boyer led until his retirement due to engine trouble on 18th lap, Murphy inherited the lead and, driving in agony for over four hours, he won the race also setting the fastest lap in 7min43.0sec at an average speed of 83.4 mi/h (134.23 km/h). The Ballots driven by De Palma and Jules Goux finished second and third, more than 15 minutes behind. After crossing the finish line Murphy's Duesenberg was found with two flat tires and its radiator had been punctured by a flying stone.

Suddenly, Murphy became an international racing hero. The next time an American driver would win a Grand Prix in Europe in an American-built car would be 46 years later, when Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, in his Eagle-Weslake.

In 1922 Jimmy Murphy won the Indianapolis 500, at a record average speed of 94.48 mi/h (152.02 km/h), becoming the first driver in history to win from the pole position. Paired once again with riding mechanic Olsen, he was at the wheel of the Le Mans-type Duesenberg equipped with a Miller straight-eight engine, officially named "Murphy Special". The starting field of the 1922 Indy 500 included nine Chevrolet-built Frontenacs and nine Duesenbergs. Eight of the top-ten finishers were Duesenberg chassis. In the end of the season, Murphy easily won the AAA National Driving Championship, taking six more wins in long-distance board-track races at Beverly Hills, Cotati, Uniontown, Fresno and Tacoma. Milton finished second, with only four wins.

The following season saw Murphy head of the newly-formed Durant team and he took outright wins at Beverly Hills and Fresno, also scoring a solid third place at Indianapolis, driving a Miller. He eventually was runner-up in the National Championship, behind Eddie Hearne, even missing several races to go to Europe. He competed in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, finishing third, five minutes behind the Fiat 805 supercharged cars driven by Carlo Salamano and Felice Nazzaro.

Murphy was crowned National Champion for the second time in 1924, when he won two major board-track races at Altoona and another at Kansas City, plus a dirt-track event at Readville, Massachusetts, finishing once again third at Indianapolis. He had accumulated an unbeatable lead in the points, even though there were still three races to be run when he lost his life in September 1924. Murphy was awarded the AAA Championship posthumously.

That month was a shocking period, when no fewer than three Indianapolis 500 winners lost their lives within two weeks of each other. On 02 September died Joe Boyer, who had shared the winning car at the Brickyard barely three months earlier. The very next day, Boyer's 1923 Packard team mate, the British-Italian Dario Resta, winner of the 1916 Indianapolis 500, perished at Brooklands in the United Kingdom, while driving a Sunbeam. And on 15 September, Jimmy Murphy, winner of the 1922 edition of the 500-mile race, was killed in a dirt-track accident at Syracuse, New York.

A single dirt track race was listed in the AAA's National Championship schedule for 1924 and, although he did not like dirt track races, preferring hard surfaces which suited his very smooth driving style, he entered the 150-mile race at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. On Monday, 15 September 1924, near the end of the race, he was running a strong second when he crashed. His car slid wildly on oil, went out of control and slammed into the inside wooden barriers. A piece of splintered fencing pierced his chest and killed him almost instantly. He was 30 years old.

Different accounts indicated that Murphy's accident was caused by a shock absorber which appeared to have failed. Ironically, it was his former friend Milton that paid the costs of transport, when Jimmy Murphy's remains were transferred back to Los Angeles and made the funeral arrangements. Burial is in Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.

Jimmy Murphy starred in Paul Powell's 1923 movie "Racing Hearts", with actress Agnes Ayres who one year before had played opposite Rudolph Valentino in "The Sheik". A dance was named after him, the "Jimmy Murphy Fox Trot" in an era crazed with dance. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1998.

Sources:

Book "The International Motor Racing Guide", by Peter Higham, David Bull Publishing, Phoenix, United States, ISBN 1-893618-20-X.
Book "Indianapolis 500 Chronicle" by Rick Popely with L. Spencer Riggs, Publications International Ltd., Lincolnwood, IL, 1999, ISBN 0-7853-2798-3.
Book "The History of America's Speedways - Past & Present", by Allan E. Brown, third edition, first printing, November 2003, America's Speedways, PO Box 448, Comstock Park, MI, 49321-0448, United States, ISBN 0-931105-61-7, pages 497.
Book "The Tribute Project", edited by Ed Watson, 1997, page 30; citing "Board Track" book, page 155; contribution by Ed Watson.
Book "Albo della Gloria: Al Piloti Caduti in Tutto il Mondo al Loro Posto di Combattimento" by Emanuele Carli, Modena, Italy, 1972, page 14 [incomplete information].
Magazine Open Wheel, issue of June 1982, article "The Milton vs. Murphy Feud" by L. Spencer Riggs, pages 20/22.
Magazine MotorSport, issue of October 2006, page 83.
Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Tuesday, 16 September 1924, pages 1 and 15, Associated Press wire service, article "Jimmy Murphy Dies In Auto Race Crash".
Newspaper The Washington Post (Washington, DC, United States), issue of Tuesday, 16 September 1924, page S1, Associated Press wire service, article "Jimmy Murphy Killed In Syracuse Auto Race".
Newspaper The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA, United States), issue of Tuesday, 16 September 1924, page 10, Associated Press wire service, article "Jimmy Murphy Killed In Syracuse Auto Races".
Newspaper Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV, United States), issue of Tuesday, 16 September 1924, page 5, Associated Press wire service, article "Jimmy Murphy, Veteran Auto Racer, Dies In Crash".
Newspaper Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA, United States), issue of Tuesday, 16 September 1924, page B1 and B2, article "Jimmy Murphy Dies In Race".
Newspaper Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL, United States), issue of Thursday, 18 September 1924, page 36, Pacific and Atlantic Photo, captioned "On The Ride Of Death".
Newspaper Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA, United States), issue of Thursday, 18 September 1924, page 12, article "Murphy's Body Due Tomorrow".
Newspaper Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA, United States), issue of Monday, 22 September 1924, page A1 and A2, article "Rites For Murphy Today".
Newspaper Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA, United States), issue of Tuesday, 23 September 1924, page A2, article "Jimmy Murphy At Rest", and photos, captioned "Final Flag Falls for Champion Race Pilot".
Newspaper Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL, United States), issue of Monday, 20 October 1924, page 25, article "Motordom Today", by J. L. Jenkins.
Newspaper Syracuse Herald (Syracuse, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 10 September 1934, page 6, article "Brayen 14th Person Killed By Auto Races at Fair".
Website Indianapolis 500, Career Stats for Jimmy Murphy, page http://www.indy500.com/stats/drivers.php?drivername=Jimmy Murphy .
Website Motorsport.com, chapter Statistics, Champ Cars, research by Phil Harms, page http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch192406.pdf .
Website AUTOSPORT → Forums → The Nostalgia Forum, thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 26, postings by "ReWind", message http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread.php?postid=1469366#post1469366, David McKinney and Barry Lake.
Website Motorsport Hall of Fame of America, page http://www.mshf.com/index.htm?/hof/murphy_jimmy.htm .
Website IMDb-Internet Movie Databese, page http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014389/ .
Website Racemaker Press, article "The tale of Tommy Milton and Jimmy Murphy, two of America's greatest drivers" by Gordon Kirby, page https://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/archive/milton_and_murphy.html .
Website Champ Car Stats, page http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/MurphyJimmy.htm .
Website Unique Cars and Parts, page https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/race_drivers_jimmy_murphy .
Website SPortscar Digest, article "Jimmy Murphy Biography" by Dennis David, page https://sportscardigest.com/jimmy-murphy/ .
Website Find-A-Grave: Jimmy Anthony Murphy.