Murphy and Robinson Eye Championships at Tri City & Merritt

📸 Randy Ellen

Jonesville, MI - The first race day of August came and went over the weekend. For those of us in the Michigan region, it was largely washed away due to rain or forecasted rain in the region. That doesn't change the fact that many tracks are pushing toward crowning a champion within the next month. One of the more captivating stories in Michigan is the battle between Nate Murphy and Katie Robinson for track championships at both Tri City Motor Speedway and Merritt Speedway.

After 10 features at both Tri City and Merritt Speedway this summer, Coleman, Michigan native, Nate Murphy sits less than 20 points ahead of Mount Pleasant, Michigan's Katie Robinson with five races remaining at each track this season. Stats and history point toward Murphy as being the favorite, but Robinson has done what she needs to do to stay within striking distance down the stretch.

A veteran of Pro Stock racing, Nate Murphy already holds six track championships in Pro Stocks behind the wheel of his No.69. The 37-year-old grabbed his first Pro Stock Championship in 2019 at Tri City Motor Speedway before backing it up with a Merritt Speedway title in 2020. Murphy was the Allstar Performance Challenge Series Championship in 2022 when the Challenge Series hosted big races between Ti City and Merritt Speedways. Murphy has won championships the last two seasons, with another Merritt title in 2024 and a Tri City title in 2025.

As for Katie Robinson, the 19-year-old holds just one track championship in her tenure as a driver, that coming at Mount Pleasant Speedway back in her days behind the wheel of a Mini Wedge. However, Robinson is fired up for the possibility of one or both championships this season.

📸 Volz Trackside Media

At Tri City Motor Speedway, Murphy holds the edge on Robinson by 14 points. This year, Murphy has 10 starts with nine top 10 finishes and eight top fives to his credit. Meanwhile, Robinson holds nine starts with eight top fives and a pair of wins. Murphy began the season with a DNF on May 8th, while Robinson went to victory lane. Murphy bounced back with a top five finish the following week and his first of four wins the week following that. On May 22nd, Robinson wasn't able to start the feature that night, and Murphy went on to win. In the most recent race at Tri City, Murphy was credited with 10th but another DNF, and again Robinson went to victory lane. It's not just Murphy and Robinson in the Tri City hunt, Marc Super remains in contention as well, sitting third just 17 points back from the Championship. Eric Watz is 31 points back in fourth, and Jeff Boerma is 41 back in fifth.

Merritt Speedway is a bit of a different story for Murphy and Robinson. The pair are out front in the Championship Points battle by 53 points over Larry Cade, 55 better than Teri Lynn Murphy, and 68 points ahead of Jacob Wassman. Murphy has had a lights-out season at Merritt, converting all 10 feature starts into top fives, with his worst finish being 4th. The caveat being that when Murphy hasn't won, Robinson has.

Murphy won the season opener before finishing second to Robinson the following week. Murphy went on a streak of winning three in a row before finishing third on June 27th and July 11th; Robinson found victory lane for the second time at Merritt during the July 11th show. Murphy won again on July 18th, but finished third once again on July 25th when Robinson drove back to Merritt Speedway victory lane. Just 17 points separate Murphy from Robinson a top the Merritt Speedway standings.

Championship weekend for Tri City Motor Speedway and Merritt Speedway Friday September 4th (Tri City) and Saturday September 5th (Merritt). Here's a look at the point structure for each track with five points paying races remaining:

Tri City Motor Speedway:

A-Main Points

1. 40

2. 39

3. 38

4. 37

5. 36

6. 35

7. 34

8. 33

9. 32

10. 31

11. 30

12. 29

13. 28

14. 27

15. 26

16. 25

17. 24

18. 23

19. 22

20. 21

21. 20

22. 19

23. 18

24. 17

Heat Races do not award points

Merritt Speedway:

A-Main Points

1. 25

2. 22

3. 21

4. 40

5. 19

6. 18

7. 17

8. 16

9. 15

10. 14

11. 13

12. 12

13. 11

14. 10

15. 10

16. 10

17. 10

18. 10

19. 10

20. 10

Heat Race Points

1. 5

2. 4

3. 3

4. 2

5. 1

6. 1

7. 1

8. 1

9. 1

10. 1

11.