FEUD OF THE WEEK: Jamie McMurray vs. Jack Roush
Jamie McMurray shows off his Brickyard 400 trophy. // Elmer Kappell, NASCAR Illustrated
OK, so this isn’t exactly a feud. We use the term loosely this week.
It’s more of a friendly rivalry, one that makes for an interesting debate and one that we can have some fun with.
It’s not like Jamie McMurray and Jack Roush, his former boss, are at each other’s throat, or even at odds.
McMurray, in fact, has been respectful toward Roush since leaving Roush Fenway Racing last year and Roush has wished McMurray well and congratulated him on his recent success.
But McMurray has to be feeling a bit vindicated over winning NASCAR’s two biggest races a year after being released by Roush.
And Roush has to be asking himself what might have been and wondering why he couldn’t give McMurray what he needed to reach his full potential with his organization.
While McMurray has refrained from criticizing Roush and his organization, Felix Sabates, co-owner of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, summed up what many are thinking after watching McMurray win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 this year.
“The guy that got to feel like an idiot tonight has to be Jack Roush. He's the one that let him go,” Sabates said Sunday.
McMurray spent the first part of his Cup career with Ganassi and Sabates, winning at Charlotte in just his second career start. He didn’t win again over the next three seasons but came close to making the Chase twice before leaving to join Roush, where he was expected to flourish.
Instead, McMurray struggled through four mostly disappointing seasons with Roush. He won two Cup races – at Daytona and Talladega – but had just 11 top-five finishes in four years and finished no better than 16th in points, including a career-low 25th in his first year.
With Roush needing to drop a team to reach NASCAR’s four-team cap, he released McMurray after last season, leaving him searching for a ride.
When Ganassi needed a driver to replace the departing Martin Truex Jr., he took a gamble on bringing McMurray back to his organization.
It has paid huge dividends.
Though McMurray is currently outside the top 12 in points, he has won NASCAR’s two biggest races this year, becoming just the third driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season and helping give Ganassi a rare trifecta (he also won the Indy 500 with Dario Franchitti).
And it’s not like McMurray’s two victories were flukes or pure luck. He nearly won at Talladega, Darlington and Charlotte as well, finishing second in all three races. At this point last year, he was 20th in points with just three top-10 finishes.
Roush Fenway, meanwhile, has struggled through one of its worst seasons. Despite having three drivers in the current top 12, Roush has not won a race this year. The organization’s last win was McMurray’s victory last October at Talladega.
And David Ragan, the driver Roush kept over McMurray, is 24th in points with just one top-10 finish.
McMurray harbors no bitterness toward Roush. Instead, he says his newfound success is an example of not giving up, being in the right place at the right time and having a team owner who believes in him.
“I think it's a lesson for all the media, that instead of writing the story that this guy should be fired, the story should be this guy needs to find a new situation,” he says.
“I think it's just a situation where you got to get the guys in the right position with the right crew chief and the right team and the right owner. …
“I think every driver is different, but for me that's what drives me, having somebody behind you.”
