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 Dyson Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. Founded by Rob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including the IMSA GT Championsh ...

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 The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. 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.

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 The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. Through age 16 he has total 71 car races with an 8% winning, 21% podium position and 10% fastest lap rate. Prior to racing cars, he raced in karting from age 5 to 12, mostly locally in Arizona.

24 Hours of Le Mans

After back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the

2014 European Le Mans Series The 2014 European Le Mans Series season was the eleventh season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's European Le Mans Series. The five-event season began at Silverstone Circuit, in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championship, from 18–19 ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

and

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, McMurry was asked to join American

Chris Dyson Christopher Dyson (born February 24, 1978) is an American professional racing driver who competed in the American Le Mans Series for Dyson Racing from 2002 to 2013. He is currently competing in the Trans-Am Series in the TA class under the CD R ...

and Englishman Tom Kimber-Smith for the 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in the No. 42 LMP2 class entry by

Greaves Motorsport Greaves Motorsport is a British auto racing, racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, Greaves Motorsport, founded and run by Tim Greaves, entered the Le Mans Series (LMS) for the fi ...

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 Gunnar Patrick Jeannette (born May 5, 1982 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is an American racing driver who serves as the Team Principal for AO Racing. He won the 2011 American Le Mans Series season LMPC Drivers' Championship. Early racing career Je ...

in 2000 at the age of 18 years and 44 days old.Video of Youngest Participant
June 14, 2014

Racing Record

IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites

24 Hours of Le Mans results

European Le Mans Series

IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

Asian Le Mans Series

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup

References

External links

Matt McMurry website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMurry, Matt 1997 births Living people Racing drivers from Phoenix, Arizona 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers GT World Challenge America drivers Belardi Auto Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers JDC Motorsports drivers Greaves Motorsport drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers Caterham Racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Algarve Pro Racing drivers