Jimmy Murphy

JIMMY MURPHY was the first of only two Americans to win a European Grand Prix race while driving an American car. He won the 1921 French Grand Prix in a Duesenberg. He also won the Indianapolis 500 the following year as the first driver to win from the pole position and at a record breaking average speed of 94.48 miles per hour. After serving as an apprentice and riding mechanic for Tommy Milton, Murphy went on to master the steeply-banked wooden-board tracks that comprised the National Championship circuit during the 1920s. Murphy was the National Champion in 1922 and 1924. He scored major victories during the five-year period beginning in 1920, including three at Beverly Hills, California, three at Altoona, Pennsylvania, two at Fresno, California, one at Cotati, California, and one at Kansas City, Missouri. In 1923, two years after his win at the French Grand Prix, he drove a Miller in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and finished third behind two Fiats. At Indianapolis, he was victorious in 1922 and also finished third twice and fourth once. He was fatally injured at Syracuse, New York, shortly after securing his second National Championship.