Murray rebounds with Andretti Cape’s first top five of season at Laguna Seca
Andretti Cape INDY NXT headed to the West Coast for a busy double-header weekend at the historic Laguna Seca circuit. Intense elevation changes and the famous Corkscrew turn made for an exciting set of races just a few miles away from the Monterey Bay coastline.
The team fielded one car for the event, with Seb Murray climbing behind the wheel of the #2 Dream Racing Dubai entry. Murray took to the 2.238-mile track well despite never having raced on the course before, and qualified P8 for both races.
Saturday’s event proved eventful right from the outset, with a couple drivers spinning near Murray the first time the field roared through the Turn 2 hairpin. Murray made slight contact with his Andretti team-mate Lochie Hughes in the same corner, but both were able to continue through the chaos.
Murray was side by side with Callum Hedge a short time later in Turn 4 fighting for fifth position, but unfortunately was pinched down to the inside of the corner and the contact sent him spinning into the gravel. The 18-year-old was able to get going again, but he was right at the back of the pack for the restart on lap 5.
Once back at full speed, Murray reported the car was not at full strength and he had a hard time moving up through the field. He managed the situation for most of the race distance, but when gearbox issues appeared on lap 21 he was forced to pull to the side of the track. He ended the day in 17th position.
Sunday brought the second race of the Indy NXT by Firestone double-header, and a quick chance to bounce back from adversity. There was more chaos on the first lap, but this time Murray was ahead of the incidents and was able to hold position in eighth.
On the restart on lap 26, Murray was fending off an attack from Niels Koolen into the hairpin when more incidents occurred just ahead on track. Murray weaved his way through the chaos, and successfully leapfrogged up to the fifth position in the process.
Murray made a couple attempts to move ahead further in the final laps, but ultimately crossed the line in fifth place. The result was Murray’s best ever in Indy NXT and gave the Cape team its first top five finish of the season.
Next up is another event on the West Coast, with a visit to Portland International Raceway and the final road course event of the season.
Seb Murray
Awesome finish to the weekend, best one of the year and my first top five. The team put out an awesome car. We had some trouble on Saturday with the gearbox failure, but we showed our true colors today. The team was awesome; really good pace all race. Stayed out of trouble, had a good start, and came P5 in the end.
Awesome day! Massive thank you to the team and all my sponsors. We’ll go get them in Portland in a couple weeks.