A year later, McMurray hopes to win again at Daytona

By SceneDaily Staff
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
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Jamie McMurray edges Kyle Busch (5) for the victory in the 2007 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Doug Benc
Getty Images

Not much has gone right for Jamie McMurray since winning at Daytona International Speedway last July. He’s had only five top-10 finishes in the 35 races since 2007’s Pepsi 400, but there’s something about being a defending champion of a race that can raise your spirits.
 
McMurray edged Kyle Busch by inches at Daytona last year in the final restrictor-plate race for NASCAR’s old Cup car. The win was the second of McMurray's career and snapped a six-year winless streak.
 
“This weekend I’m really looking forward to returning to Daytona,” McMurray said. “Obviously, it’s a great feeling to be the winner of last year’s race and knowing how much all the guys are looking forward to returning there.”
 
McMurray’s No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford will sport a special Irwin Industrial Tools paint scheme in this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, a scheme similar to the one used last year.
 
“It’s really cool looking car, and I would like nothing more than to return it to victory lane again this year,” McMurray said.
 
McMurray hasn’t been close to victory lane this year, with a best finish of eighth at Martinsville earlier this season. He was 18th at Infineon Raceway and 41st last weekend at New Hampshire after being in a crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
 
“We haven’t had the best of luck the last two races and have lost some spots in the points, but returning to Daytona this weekend as the defending champions is always a good feeling,” crew chief Larry Carter said. “Jamie is one of the best drafters in our series and has had a lot of success at the superspeedways. If we can stay out of trouble this weekend, it should be a great weekend.”
 
McMurray will have a new car for this weekend, a chassis and body design similar to one teammate David Ragan finished fourth with at Talladega, the other track on the schedule where restrictor plates are used, in April.
 
“They seemed to have a lot of success with it,” Carter said, “so we applied what they learned into our setup for this weekend’s race.”

Mentioned Drivers: Jamie McMurray

Comments

4 responses to "A year later, McMurray hopes to win again at Daytona". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    emily bagwell said:
    Jul 1, 2008 at 6:02 PM

    Jamie thinks his luck was bad at the last race---Junior is the one with the bad luck since Jamie ran smack-dab over him. This is not bad luck for Jamie, but an idiotic driver's mistake. Hope he's got some glasses before Daytona! Geez!

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  2. 2
    Bill Jostock said:
    Jul 1, 2008 at 9:06 PM

    Um, Junior needs to take as much credit for the accident as Jamie. NOBODY on the #88 team informed the other teams that they were pitting. It is normal practice to let the drivers know behind you when you are pitting and Dale did not do that. I think you are the one that needs glasses.

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  3. 3
    Pearl Roll said:
    Jul 2, 2008 at 12:01 PM

    Couldn't have said it better myself, Bill!!

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  4. 4
    emily bagwell said:
    Jul 2, 2008 at 5:53 PM

    Gee, isn't it strange that Jamie said on the tube that he was looking elsewhere on the track and didn't see Junior, which was quite evident. Maybe you need a hearing aid, Bill.How do you know what was said? I believe the commentators were in agreement that it was NOT Junior's fault. And, you're right, Pearl, you couldn't have said it better---you aren't smart enough to do anything but mimic.

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