Adrenaline sport takes luxury homebuilder founder up to 136 mph

Executive

Steve Murray, 54, president of Murray Homes. He established Murray Homes in 2001, and the company specializes in building luxury, waterfront homes. Murray says he is involved in everything, from the day-to-day operations to the overall direction of the company as well as sales and clients.

Diversion

Murray is an amateur race car driver who has competed with his 1999 Mazda Miata at locations in Florida such as Palm Beach and Daytona. He is a qualified Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) driver.

British roots: “I've got a long history of connection to motor sports, going back to when I was living in London,” Murray says. He grew up near a Formula One circuit southeast of London. “My dad used to take me every Sunday to watch the club racing and any major races…and meet all the famous racing drivers of the day,” he says, recalling his earliest memories were the smell of racing fuel and tires. He started karting (go-karting), and later in life began competing in autocross, in which drivers navigate a course outlined by cones.

Zoom zoom: After autocross, Murray says: “I just had a hankering to get out on the track. I realized the best car for the money was a Mazda Miata, so I ended up buying one and getting it ready for racing.” He competes in the Spec Miata class, meaning the cars have limited modifications. ”Mazda is not necessarily a fast car, but it’s what’s called a momentum car,” Murray says. “So we can go around corners pretty much faster than anything else on the track.” The fastest he has driven while racing is 136 mph, he says. “It isn't so much about speed. These cars are equally built, equally balanced and equally powered. So you can have maybe six cars in a row, and each one will be changing gear at the same time, braking in the same way, going the same speed. It's incredibly tight racing, and that's what makes it emotional.”

Photo by Dave Green

Adrenaline sport: Races can last from 25 minutes to three hours. During the three-hour races, Murray says there are regulated pit stops for fuel. Races take place over the weekend, so he gets to the track Friday to set up for racing Saturday and Sunday. “Some people go fishing as a hobby at the weekend; I go racing,” Murray says. ”We're amateurs; we're not professionals. We don't win any money. This is an adrenaline sport, and you're exhausted after a weekend, but you're fulfilled in an entirely different way.”

Popular class: At the racetrack, “more Mazdas are driven on a given weekend than any other car,” according to Murray, with Miatas among the most common models. The Spec Miata is a “very popular class, which leads to extremely competitive racing,” Murray says. “The word spec means we can't do anything other than what's in the rulebook.” In other classes, owners can pour money into modifying their cars, but not so with spec. “If you win, your car can be stripped down…to see whether you follow the regulations.” Spec Miata is “probably the most competitive class in the country,” Murray says. “We can get up to 50 or 60 cars on a track at any one time.”

Racing buddies: Murray races along with Larry Shanaberger, a project manager for Murray Homes. The two have been friends for 20 years, he says. Together they formed SLR Motorsports, which is the Murray Homes racing team. “We did this whole thing together,” from competing in autocross to getting qualified to race through the Sports Car Club of America. “When we race, we race together as a team and travel around the state competing,” Murray says. In addition, some interested employees have helped as crew members. “I love taking my employees who enjoy mechanics and love racing,” Murray says. “They come, and it's great for the company as well.”

Out with the old: Murray estimates he has been through four or five race cars. “You get to a point where you've done the most you can with that particular chassis, and you need to start again,” he says. In one case, he hit a wall at 70 mph at Sebring International Raceway and totaled a car, which “required a new rebuild of a new chassis.” Despite the crash, he says he was not hurt, as the cars are “designed to take impact…to protect the driver.”

Absolute community: One component of the sport is the camaraderie. “What you have is a bunch of amateurs who are enacting their dreams in a racetrack environment,” he says. If there are problems, people will lend each other tools and help fix the car. “Then you have a beer at the end of the day together. So it's fierce competition, but it's an absolute community, where we help each other out and look after each other.”

Bucket list: While he currently only races in Florida, Murray says his goal is to be able to travel. Courses like Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Georgia and Road America in Wisconsin are “on the bucket list, but it does take a lot of time and organization,” Murray says. “Really it takes too much time out of the business to do it on a regular basis. But once I get a little bit more time, the goal is to transport the car to different tracks around the country and…drive every current track in North America.” He estimates there are upwards of 15 tracks across the continent.

Passion project: “I think everybody needs something they are entirely passionate about,” Murray says. “I'm entirely passionate about running my company and building houses, and I'm entirely passionate about racing. And the two complement each other because they require teamwork, they require coordination, skill and attention.” Plus, he says, some of the people he is building houses for are also into the sport. “A lot of my clients either race or have raced or have an interest in cars, and so it creates a connection.”