Jamie McMurray preparing to race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, host fundraiser
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
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Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray has a busy week ahead. First he's racing in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and then he'll be hosting the Third Annual Jamie McMurray Foundation golf tournament to raise money for autism awareness.
McMurray says that he is looking forward to competing at the track, site of his first career Cup victory and the “home” track for most of the teams in the series, for this weekend's event. In 12 starts at the track, he has five top-10 finishes, two of them top-fives, as well as the 2002 win. He has also led 139 laps in races there, the most for McMurray at any Cup track.
“Racing at Lowe’s is always a good time, not only for me, but for all the crew guys," McMurray said. "They are the ones who are on the road every weekend, so to be able to race in front of their friends and family is always fun. I’m looking forward to this weekend because I know how fast our cars have been the last couple months. Unless you are on our team or really follow our team, it’s hard because if you just look at the results, we haven’t been that good, but I know and the team knows how fast our cars have really been. Last week in Talladega, what are you going to do? You are running top five, and the guy next to you blows a tire. That’s just been our luck lately."
Despite running better within the races, McMurray has a top finish of just 17th in his last six races. Prior to that, though, his team was clearly showing signs of progress with three top-10s in a five-race stretch and a worst performance of 16th in that stretch.
McMurray is hoping to turn the tide once more Saturday night. His team felt confident after a recent series test session at the track and is confident entering the weekend.
“Our team had a really good test at Lowe’s a couple weeks ago, which always gives you a good feeling entering the race," crew chief Larry Carter said. "We learned a couple of things that should help with this new car and getting the balance and handling better, which has been the challenge all season. We’ve had some pretty solid weekends going, and, hopefully, this one won’t be any different. Our cars have been fast; now we just need some good finishes to go along with them.”
After the race, McMurray says he looks forward to having a rare Sunday off and then gearing up for his annual fund-raising event Monday.
"We have a lot of drivers and a lot of sponsors that have given their time and money to this event, which I really think is going to be a great day on the golf course," he said. "We are on track to raise more than $100,000 which will go towards autism awareness and research. It’s going to be a great weekend all around for myself and the team.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jamie McMurray
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