Young gun Cooper Murray on his crash, social media pile on, teaming up with Craig Lowndes

Cooper Murray had to shut down his social media after a Super2 crash in Perth. The 22-year-old driver has a message for the ‘keyboard warriors’ as he prepares to prove himself in a Supercars wildcard.

Young gun Cooper Murray has revealed he had to switch off social media to avoid blowback over his role in the spectacular Super2 crash in Perth, but he is determined to prove he “belongs in the Supercars championship” in his main game debut.

As he prepares to suit up in a Triple Eight wildcard at the Darwin Triple Crown this weekend, Murray said he had to shut-out the “keyboard warriors” in the aftermath of Cameron McLeod’s scary smash at the Perth Supersprint last round.

Murray accepted a reckless driving charge and was disqualified from race two in Perth over his part in the McLeod rollover.

McLeod’s car was sent into a frightening high-speed roll late in Sunday’s race after contact from Murray along the back straight at one of the fastest parts of the track.

Following on from the incident in Race 2 on the weekend in Perth I wanted to clarify my position following the penalty I have been handed by the stewards. First and foremost my best wishes to Cam after that nasty crash, I am glad he is ok. 1/3

— Cooper Murray (@coopermurray36) May 23, 2024

The Super2 rookie was able to walk away from the accident, but his car was wrecked and the race was red-flagged.

Murray sought out McLeod after the race to check on him and said there was no “bad blood” between the pair.

While Murray did not want to go into detail about the vitriol he received, the 22-year-old admitted it “wasn’t great” and said he deferred his social media to his manager.

“There is always going to be keyboard warriors that have their opinions, but I just stick to my guns and move forward and don’t really listen to that stuff and do what I need to do,” Murray said ahead of his wildcard drive this week.

“I did turn off my socials. I’m not willing to go into context of the type of messages and stuff, but I turned my socials off and let my manager look after them for a couple of weeks.

“That stuff only puts you down, that’s all they are trying to do. I just stay strong, don’t look at that stuff and just stick to my game plan.

“It was a racing incident, things happen, just move on …. it was just two kids having a crack and racing as hard as they possibly could.

“There is no bad blood between us at all. We are all good.”

Cameron McLeod’s scary crash at the Perth Supersprint. Picture: Supplied

Eager to put the Perth incident behind him, Murray is now fully focused on his opportunity behind the wheel of the Triple Eight Supercheap Auto wildcard at Hidden Valley.

His Darwin debut will be a tune up for his endurance campaign alongside Supercars great Craig Lowndes at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

“I am just really excited to get behind the wheel of this amazing opportunity in the Gen3 this weekend in the Supercars championship,” Murray said.

Cooper Murray speaking to Craig Lowndes. Picture: Supplied

“My full focus is on that and it’s eyes forward to that, execute and prove that I belong in the Supercars championship.

“I know what I am capable of and my talents, so if I just go out there and do the best that I possibly can and enjoy every single moment behind the wheel that’s when I am going to get the best result possible.

“For Darwin, I just want to find my feet in the championship and complete every single lap possible. If we can get to the end of the weekend and have completed every lap from practice to the end of race two, I will be walking away with a smile on my face.”

The emerging talent tested the pair’s Gen3 Camaro at Queensland Raceway late last month ahead of his main game debut.

Murray said it was a dream come true to be working with V8 legend Lowndes and the seven-time Bathurst 1000 champion’s advice and feedback had so far been invaluable.

Supercars great Craig Lowndes will team with young gun Cooper Murray in a Triple Eight wildcard for this year's endurance races. Picture: Supplied.

“It’s awesome to be working with Craig. Seeing him win all of those Bathursts and all of the races and being up the front and being a hero of our sport for such a long time, it’s a dream come true to be teaming up with him in the enduros,” Murray said.

“Craig has been amazing, he has been around a long time, so I have been a sponge to him and learning as much as I possibly can and leaning on him with every question I have.

“It’s going to be a big two races, especially racing Super2 the same weekend as Sandown and Bathurst so it is going to be busy for me, but it’s only going to mean more track time as well.

So more track time the better and I’m sure me and Craig will have a very strong package heading into the enduros, so there is no reason we can’t snag a good result.”

Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup will act as team manager for the wildcard in Darwin and Murray said the Supercars’ great’s advice to him had been simple.

“It’s pretty cool to have a seven-time champion team managing me this weekend and being a bit of a mentor, so I’ll learn a lot from him and I’m sure he’ll help me out a fair bit,” Murray said.

“Go out there and have a crack, that’s what he has told me. That’s what I’ll be doing, going out there and having a crack.”

Originally published as Young gun Cooper Murray on his crash, social media pile on, teaming up with Craig Lowndes