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Jamie McMurray came to race – and to win – at Talladega Superspeedway
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Monday, November 02, 2009
Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray won Sunday's Amp Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.
David Griffin
NASCAR Scene
Jamie McMurray says he didn't want to run around at the back of the pack Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. After all, he came to race.
He talked to his Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Donnie Wingo the night before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Amp Energy 500, though, and decided that just might be the best option for the day. After all, he'd taken a different approach and found that it just didn't work out that well in the past.
"We wrecked on like lap 7 here in the spring race," McMurray says. "We talked about riding around at that point at the back just to log laps. And I made the comment to him, I was like, ‘I didn't come here to ride around the back. I want to get up there and race with those guys.’ Then we wrecked on lap 7, and we had to ride around wounded. Makes you think that it probably wasn't the best plan."
Sunday, he found the perfect plan, though. McMurray, who is seeking a new ride for 2010 and knowing that his Roush Fenway Racing team will dissolve at season's end as the organization has to cut a team to make the four-car limit imposed by NASCAR, went out and turned in a stellar performance. He made wise decisions on when to move to the front and which line to run in, was out of range of the pair of late-race crashes that marred the action and nursed his fuel to the finish for the third victory of his career.
It was Roush Fenway’s third win of the season and McMurray's first victory since the 2007 July race at the Sprint Cup circuit’s other restrictor-plate track, Daytona International Speedway.
McMurray also won in his second career NASCAR start, which came with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2002.
Ironically, perhaps, the win comes just as McMurray and team owner Jack Roush seem to have found a new level of understanding of one another and when things appear to be working better for McMurray.
He admits that the win could pay larger dividends than just the trophy and accolades it netted. It could be a crucial element in landing a ride next season.
"Certainly, being able to win is not going to hurt my chances at getting another ride," McMurray says. "You know, I said this kind of jokingly on TV, but my first year, Jack was a little bit mean to me, I guess, would be the easy way to put that. His motivating skills were - he just wasn't pushing the right button. He has told me numerous times that, you know, everyone is motivated differently. And Jack has become a really good friend of mine in the last year.
"He has learned to push the right button, I guess, when he comes up to my car before the race and what to say to me. You know, I'll miss not getting to drive one of these cars. Certainly Jack's team can put just incredible equipment on the track, and this year hasn't been as good as what it has been in the past. But whether it's the engine shop or the engineering department or the chassis shop, he has an incredible race team. And my years here have been, you know, they've been good."
McMurray freely admits that expectations were high when he joined the team in 2006 - and that his performance numbers (two wins, 11 top-fives and 32 top-10s) haven't necessarily matched that.
"Certainly the performance hasn't been what I think either one of us expected coming in and almost making the Chase my first few years in Cup," McMurray says. "Coming over here, I thought it would be kind of a sure bet, and it just hasn't been as good as what it needed to be. But certainly I'll miss being a part of this organization. But you never know. You know, you might end up driving for Jack one day again. So I'm not going to make him mad in this little meeting we're having here."
Roush said that he would like to have more races left with McMurray but that things clearly didn't work out with the owner cap coming into play. Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan will continue with the organization in 2010.
"I guess we're going to have to part our ways at the end of the year here based on going from five teams to four," Roush says. "That's a great sadness, but I hope that we can win another race with Jamie and certainly am happy for this one."
Still, Roush says that the win didn't come easily - at least not in terms of the stress it brought on the men involved.
With McMurray cutting it close on fuel, and teams riding around for an extended green-white-checkered finish - it was difficult to watch and worry about the group.
"The guys did a nice job," Roush says of McMurray and his Wingo-led team. "The car had speed in it, and they didn't make a mistake all day. I thought that I was going to find or we were going to find another way to lose one of these races. I thought in the closing laps there that we were going to be just - that cars were going to run out of gas and delay the restart of the race until it was our turn, and then we'd be out of gas too.
"That was my horror. In fact, I had to turn away and get off the pit box. I couldn't stand it. I left. I couldn't stand it."
What he could stand, though, was his team's return to the top - and its strong showing on the restrictor-plate tracks this season. Kenseth won the season-opening Daytona 500 and McMurray book-ended the season on those drafting tracks with the Talladega win.
That, and other improvements the organization has seen, have Roush optimistic about next season.
The main ingredient that won't be part of that moving forward is McMurray himself.
"I wish that I still had my five teams, that I didn't have to go down to four and we had a spot for Jamie, but it is what it is," Roush says.
Mentioned Drivers: Jamie McMurray
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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9 responses to "Jamie McMurray came to race – and to win – at Talladega Superspeedway". Post a Comment.
sweetthings88 said:
Nov 2, 2009 at 6:55 PMNot taking any thing away from Jamie Mac and his win. But, I can't believe they called this racing. JMO
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjenny9nelsen said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 11:21 AMCongrats Jamie and team on winning. It seemed like for ever since he won at Daytona in July 2007. Also I am happy that Kasey and Joey were 2nd and 3rd.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdaviclar38 said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 2:01 PMHe'll do better in a CHEVY at DEI/and company!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbthompson133 said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 6:16 PMsorry race ,but congrats jm
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 6:36 PM#1...what is your definition of racing?...just curious....
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» Confirm Abuse Reportcrusher1 said:
Nov 3, 2009 at 6:55 PMJamie. Great WIN. I've been a fan of your's since the BUSCH series. I hope you find a good ride in 2010. You do have a fan in Evansville, IN. Good luck in 2010.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnascarnutsheeler said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 12:08 AMGood Race Jamie, hopefully that black cloud that has been following you is gone for good.You are too nice a guy to have the kind of luck you've had. Good luck guy.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportlgerringer said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 7:32 AMGood thing everybody else wrecked or he would still be winless.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjjandnj said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 5:00 PMCongrats Jamie!!!! You've been my guy since Schrader left and will continue to be where ever you land. All I can say is Rausch is making a mistake.
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