Matt McMurry

Last updated
Matt McMurry
IMSA Road America 2020 (50262752843).jpg
Nationality Flag of the United States.svg American
Born (1997-11-24) 24 November 1997 (age 27)
Pheonix, Arizona, USA
Racing licence FIA Silver Driver.png FIA Silver

Matthew Merrill McMurry (born November 24, 1997) is an American racing driver from Phoenix, Arizona, United States. In 2014 he became the first junior development driver for Dyson Racing [1] and a few months later at the age of 16 years and 202 days old became the youngest driver to participate in and finish the 24 Hours of Le Mans. [2] He is a second generation driver and son of Chris McMurry, LMP2 class winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2005. Matthew is an alumnus of The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine. [3]

Contents

Career

McMurry has been racing cars since age 14, competing in Formula Skip Barber, U.S. F2000 Championship, Formula Bondurant, Prototype Lites and the European Le Mans Series. Through age 16 he has total 71 car races with an 8% winning, 21% podium position and 10% fastest lap rate. [4] Prior to racing cars, he raced in karting from age 5-12, mostly locally in Arizona.

24 Hours of Le Mans

After back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the 2014 European Le Mans Series at Silverstone and Imola, McMurry was asked to join American Chris Dyson and Englishman Tom Kimber-Smith for the 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in the No. 42 LMP2 class entry by Greaves Motorsport from Peterborough, England.

The entry qualified 19th overall and 10th in class. When McMurry was handed the car by Kimber-Smith at about the 43 minute mark in the race, he became the youngest driver to ever participate in the race, breaking the record held by Mexican Ricardo Rodriguez and set 55 years earlier in 1959. Rodriguez was 17 years and 126 days old at the time.

After a 60+ minute pit stop during the 20th hour, the team finished the race 25th overall and 11th in class, having run over 2,600 miles. McMurry broke the record for youngest to finish the race, a mark previously set by American Gunnar Jeannette in 2000 at the age of 18 years and 44 days old. [5]

Racing Record

IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites

YearTeam1234567891011121314RankPoints
2013 Performance Tech SEB SEB LGA LGA MOH MOH MOS MOS ROA
6
ROA
5
COA
5
COA
18
ATL
6
ATL
12
14th48
2014 JDC MotorSports SEB
23
SEB
5
KAN
13
KAN
9
WGL
6
WGL
13
MOS
17
MOS
8
ROA
19
ROA
2
VIR
3
VIR
2
ATL
1
ATL
12
6th121
2015 JDC MotorSports SEB
11
SEB
4
NOL
3
NOL
2
WGL
5
WGL
12
MOS
10
MOS
3
ROA
2
ROA
Ret
VIR
3
VIR
2
ATL
2
ATL
2
3rd179

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
2014 Flag of Malaysia.svg Caterham Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Kimber-Smith
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Dyson
Zytek Z11SN-Nissan LMP232925th11th
2017 Flag of Portugal.svg Algarve Pro Racing Flag of the United States.svg Mark Patterson
Flag of France.svg Vincent Capillaire
Ligier JS P217-Gibson LMP233032nd15th
2020 Flag of Portugal.svg Algarve Pro Racing Flag of the United States.svg John Falb
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Simon Trummer
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP236511th7th
Source: [6]

European Le Mans Series

YearTeam123456RankPoints
2014 Greaves Motorsport SIL
4
IMO
4
RBR
6
LEC
10
EST
7
7th38
2017 Algarve Pro Racing SIL
12
MNZ
12
RBR
13
LEC
8
SPA
12
ALG
11
20th4.5
Source: [6]

IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

YearTeamClassMakeEngine123456789101112RankPointsRef
2015 Michael Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian P Ligier JS P2 Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo DAY
5
SEB LBH LGA ATL
9
18th50 [7]
BAR1 MotorsportsPC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 BEL
3
ELK
5
11th116
JDC-Miller MotorSports WGL
3
MOS LIM AUS
5
2016 Park Place MotorsportsGTD Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0L Flat-6 DAY
17
SEB
17
WGL
8
VIR PET
12
21st74 [8]
BAR1 MotorsportsPC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 LBH LGA
6
BEL WGL
7
MOS
6
LIM
4
ELK
5
AUS
4
10th138
2017 Park Place MotorsportsGTD Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0L Flat-6 DAY
24
SEB
6
LBH AUS BEL WGL
8
MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA ATL
3
30th85 [9]
2018 Spirit of Daytona Racing P Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
20
SEB
12
LBH MOH BEL
13
WGL
11
MOS ELK LGA PET 30th68 [10]
2019 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY
4
SEB
2
MDO
1
WGL
1
MOS
1
ELK
1
LGA
1
PET
1
1st270 [11]
2020 Michael Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian GTD Acura NSX GT3 Evo Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 DAY
10
DAY
3
SEB ELK
2
VIR
2
ATL
1
MDO
5
CLT
7
PET
10
LGA
1
SEB
3
1st288 [12]
2021 CORE Autosport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 DAY
5
SEB
MOH
WGL
WGL
ELK
ATL
NC0 [13]
Richard Mille - Compass Racing GTD Acura NSX GT3 Evo Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 DAY
SEB MDO
DET
WGL1 WGL2
LIM
ELK
LGA
LBH
11
VIR
PET 62nd221
2023 CrowdStrike Racing by APR LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 V8 DAY
2
SEB LGA WGL ELK IMS PET NC0 [14]
Source: [6]


Asian Le Mans Series

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine1234RankPoints
2016-17 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 Ligier JS P2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8 ZHU
2
FUJ
CHA
2
SEP
9th36

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

YearTeamCarClass12345RankPoints
2019 Jenson Team Rocket RJN Honda NSX GT3 Silver MNZ
5
SIL
6
LEC
9
SPA
4
CAT
12
8th44

References

  1. New Junior Development Program Archived 2014-09-01 at archive.today , Dyson Racing, March 10, 2014
  2. American Teen Sets Record for Youngest at Le Mans, June 15, 2014
  3. "I am UCI | Special Reports | UCI". specialreports.news.uci.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  4. Matt McMurry on DriverDB.com, Accessed September 20, 2014
  5. Video of Youngest Participant, June 14, 2014
  6. 1 2 3 "Matt McMurry Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  7. "Matt McMurry – 2015 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  8. "Matt McMurry – 2016 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  9. "Matt McMurry – 2017 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  10. "Matt McMurry – 2018 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  11. "Matt McMurry – 2019 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  12. "Matt McMurry – 2020 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  13. "Matt McMurry – 2021 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  14. "Matt McMurry – 2023 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 March 2024.