Triple Eight Race Engineering is thrilled to announce the signing of Cooper Murray, who will join the team’s driving roster and planned continuation of our Supercheap Auto wildcard program alongside Craig Lowndes in the #888 Chevrolet Camaro.
The 22-year-old lined up for his rookie season last year in the Dunlop Super2 Series with Eggleston Motorsport, who Triple Eight shares a technical alliance with. Impressively, Murray won his debut Super2 race before finishing fourth in the championship including a second victory, three podiums and a pole position to close out a successful first season.
Murray began racing karts at the age of 10, winning a pair of Australasian championship titles and six state titles before graduating to car racing in 2016. After two seasons of racing in national and state-level Formula Ford, he impressed on debut in the Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge taking eight wins from 17 starts and finished second in the final series standings.
Graduating to Carrera Cup in 2019, a mid-season team switch to McElrea Racing delivered an immediate hat-trick of wins in Townsville and podium finishes through the rest of the season.
He took that momentum into 2020, sweeping all three races at Adelaide’s opening round before the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended the category’s season. Murray was again a contender for the Carrera Cup title in 2021, finishing second to Cameron Hill and earning a call-up to the prestigious global Porsche Junior Shootout.
Since the commencement of Triple Eight’s Supercheap Auto-backed wildcard program in 2021, the team has seen talented young drivers in Broc Feeney, Declan Fraser and Zane Goddard make their case for full-time seats in the Supercars Championship. Supercheap Auto Racing’s 2022 Bathurst 1000 campaign delivered an eighth place finish, the highest place wildcard finish in the history of the Great Race. The team’s 2023 campaign consisted of three entries: the Darwin Triple Crown, Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, with the team achieving a best placed result of 10th at the Sandown 500.
Supercheap Auto Racing’s 2024 season launch date, livery reveal and event entry announcements will be announced in due course.
Quotes:
Cooper Murray
“I’m super excited and extremely grateful to have this amazing opportunity to join such a prestigious team in Triple Eight and an icon in our sport, Craig Lowndes. It’s going to be a very exciting year and I can’t wait to get stuck into it.
“I’ve always admired what Supercheap Auto and Triple Eight have done with this wildcard program, giving young kids the chance to prove themselves and seeing what it takes. If you look at Broc (Feeney) and Declan (Fraser), they both got the opportunity to become main game drivers the year after their wildcard stint, and then obviously with Zane (Goddard) last year, it was great to see him get back in a car after a tough few years for him.
“100% my aim is to get into the main game. Competing in both Super2 and the wildcard program this year is going to give me a lot of experience and hopefully I can progress into the Supercars Championship. I’m now looking forward to being with Triple Eight at race meetings this year and taking everything they do in and learn as much as I can.”
Craig Lowndes
“I’m excited to be back for another year. This program has been so successful over the last few years, starting off with Declan (Fraser) and Zane (Goddard) last year. Now with Cooper Murray, it’s going to be a really exciting year.”
“Every year we’ve been doing the wildcard, we continuously improve on the little things, but the main thing is to give the young guys the chance to improve, impress and hopefully we can share a bit of our wisdom so they can step up to bigger and better things.
“I’ve raced against Cooper in the Porche series before, and he’s since stepped up into Super2. With my commentary role, I’ve obviously interviewed him a number of times and he presents very well. His race craft is good and he thinks on his feet which is even better. I’m really excited to work with him, share a car with him and see what his feedback is like so I can help him out both on-and-off the track.
“Every team has a different philosophy and way of working. For me, I’ve always loved the way Triple Eight have continued their ethos, and it’s always been exciting to bring new people into that environment to see them thrive. It will be important for him to get familiar with the team early so once we start to share a car, we’ll know each other more than what we already do.”
Benjamin Ward
“The Supercheap Auto team are super excited to continue the wildcard program into its fourth consecutive year.
“Partnering once again with Triple Eight and Craig Lowndes helps to continue the initiative of providing young drivers their first big opportunity in Supercars.
“We’re excited to work with Cooper this year and look forward to bringing fans along for the journey with our exciting plans.”
