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McMurray looks for redemption at Infineon Raceway
By SceneDaily Staff
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Chris Trotman
Getty Images for NASCAR
Jamie McMurray has been waiting for another chance to race at Infineon Raceway, and this weekend, the Roush Fenway Racing driver finally gets it.
McMurray led 30 laps in the race there a year ago, gambling on a fuel strategy that faltered when he came up two laps short as his car ran dry while leading the race. Now, he's hoping to take that momentum all the way in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Sonoma, Calif., road course.
“Sonoma is a race that has been circled on my calendar all season long," he said. "Last year, I thought it was our race to win; we were so fast the entire day. When we took the fuel gamble late in the race, it was a big gamble that did not play out in our favor. I was so disappointed following that race. This past weekend in Michigan we faced the same issue late in the race – take the gamble or come in and pit for a safe finish. We opted to come in, and it paid off with a top-10 finish for our team."
In five starts on the 1.99-mile road course, McMurray has completed all but one lap (549 of 550) of competition. He won the pole position for this race last season and has an average starting position of 11.4 at Infineon, which is his best qualifying track on the Sprint Cup circuit.
McMurray has qualified well but has not earned top finishes at the track in recent years. he finished 37th after running out of fuel and was 18th and 13th in the two races prior to that. He has a top finish of second, which came at the track in 2004.
Still, he ranks the track among his favorites.
"Last year was so much fun after we won the pole, and then to run as well as we did, it was great," McMurray said. "This weekend we have to focus on making sure the car is balanced throughout the course, make sure our brake package is where it needs to be, and finally, we need to have good pit strategy. If we can make all of that happen, I think we’ll have a great weekend at Sonoma.”
Crew chief Larry Carter says the team is aware of how much this race means to McMurray and is working to put him in solid position this weekend. The team is taking the same car that it competed in at both Infineon and Watkins Glen International last season.
"We took this car down to Road Atlanta a few weeks ago to shake it down and work on a few different setup options," he said. "The last few weeks have been pretty good for the team. Last weekend, I felt like we were one of the top three cars in Michigan. Had the fuel strategy played out a little bit different, I really do feel we had a great shot at the win. Hopefully, we have put ourselves into place where we can go out this weekend and show everyone how strong this team really is.”
Mentioned Drivers: Jamie McMurray
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