MURRY: Sardines, Grounding and Learning German

This year is going to be my biggest and most exciting yet most stressful year in racing I have had to date.

I recently announced that I will be racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America in the Porsche Junior Program North America in addition to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

I am truly beyond belief in the things that are happening this year. I know that I say this in almost every interview or press release, but it’s only because I truly mean it… Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me get to this point.

Racing is my only passion and I don’t know what I would do without it. Also, to be able to share my career and passion with my dad, David Murry, is one in a billion.

The Junior Program NA this year will be an entirely new experience for me. I have never worked this closely with a manufacturer before and I am excited to see how much this will benefit me.

I, along with my other competitors, will be receiving lots of training throughout the year. We will get everything from interview training to technical training and my personal favorite, nutrition and fitness training.

I have always been a really big advocate of health and fitness, so to be able to work with more people that have so much more experience than me in that world will be incredible. It will benefit me so much in the race car. I can’t wait.

Alright, many people will probably think oddly of me after this, but speaking of the health side of things, I have been all-in lately.

My nutritionist has been analyzing my bloodwork and DNA to give me the best foods for my specific body.

Sardines were at the top of my list. Yes, the same sardines that you chum the water with when you are fishing for sharks and catfish. And the same ones that smell like, well I’ll just leave it at that.

Anyway, I have been eating a can of sardines every single day over the past three months, and it is amazing how much of a difference I can feel.

It has boosted my mental focus and stamina dramatically, which has helped in the race car.

But don’t get me wrong, sardines are an acquired taste. My roommate just gets mad every time I open a can of them in the house and then it smells up the house for the next several hours.

Just remember everyone, a nutritional powerhouse is greater than a house smelling like fuzzy peaches and roses.

Another thing I have started doing over the last half a year is meditation. I feel most of my benefits have come from meditation.

It allows me to connect my mind, body, and spirit with nature and the universe around us all. I started at just five minutes a day, but now I have increased that time by a lot and the benefits are extraordinary.

I feel that with both meditation and nutrition enhanced for this year, I will be unstoppable in the race car.

I did a 3.5-hour stint at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona back in January and I just kept on going without breaking a sweat.

A lot of people relate driving a race car to be this extremely cardio-physical machine that increases your heart rate insanely and overheats you. That is true, but I feel that it is so much more mental than anyone realizes.

After getting better at meditation, I am realizing that one can control their body’s functions, temperature, and focus so much more than anyone can imagine.

Doing this throughout the rest of the year, I am thoroughly convinced that it will accelerate me in almost every aspect of driving a race car.

Maybe my retirement plan is to just check out as a Monk in Mongolia.

Something similar I do before every race is called grounding. For those that don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a barefoot walk on grass, dirt, or sand to connect you with the environment around you.

It helps with jet-lag, stress, and blissfulness. It comes naturally to me though.

When I was little, my parents and I would go out to dinner. We’d get to the restaurant, and as I stepped out of the car, I realized “ugh! I forgot my shoes at home.” This was regularly.

Forgetting shoes was a staple in the Murry home and still is.

When I get to a different time zone though, grounding is usually one of the first things that I do. I also do this again the night before a race.

I prefer to do this on the property of the track to connect me specifically with the race.

About halfway through, I will find a quiet dark spot away from campers and fans, and I will do a ten to 20-minute meditation facing the racing surface. This gets me in “the zone.”

After this, I go straight to bed without talking to anyone. Usually, it will give me dreams about the race ahead. So I wake up, pretty much already having done the race.

One last thing I will touch on is that my progress in learning the German language is coming along very nicely.

I started learning German in 9th grade, but after that, my school didn’t offer a second year of German. I had a couple of years off, so I forgot most of what I had learned.

About two to three years ago, I picked it back up again in an online class.

Being able to speak German is very important in the sports car world, especially with me being in the Porsche Junior Program NA this year.

I have found great joy in learning a second language and it is very fun to put what I have learned online to the test in real life.

I had a German waitress at a restaurant not too long ago, and I said, “ah I will order auf Deutsch!” Not so fast there horsey.

I thought I ordered water with lime, but I got a lemonade instead haha.

The good thing is you can’t mess up the word sardines. It’s just “Sardinen.” Still some room for improvement aber es macht Spaß!

This year will be amazing and I hope that we can bring home some wins, and maybe two championships!

It’s great to be back with Porsche, and I look forward to many races ahead.

To stay up to date on all of my progress, follow me @DylanKMurry on Instagram.