Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 22 - Jamie McMurray

By Rea White - Associate Editor

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Jamie McMurray will compete for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

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Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 24 - AJ Allmendinger

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Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 26, Elliott Sadler

Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 27 - David Ragan

Jamie McMurray entered the 2009 Sprint Cup season knowing that his Roush Fenway Racing organization would need to be cut from five to four teams at the end of the year to meet NASCAR rules, and when his sponsor moved to teammate Matt Kenseth's car for 2010, it became clear that McMurray would be the odd man out.

Still, he and his group worked to improve and maintain their focus. and their lone back-to-back top-10 finishes came late in the season in a pairing that included his win at Talladega Superspeedway. Shortly after that victory, McMurray confirmed that he will move to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, where he will drive the organization's No. 1 in place of Martin Truex Jr. next season.

McMurray and the entire Roush Fenway Racing team were a little off their game this year. McMurray, who finished 17th and 16th in the standings in the two previous seasons with the organization, had a top points position of just 18th over the course of the ‘09 season.

While he managed to be running at the end of all but two races this year, he and his Donnie Wingo-led team never managed to get on top of their game this year, and the Joplin, Mo., native finished 22nd in the series standings and earned $3,980,629 in purses.

During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 35 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers points. Here’s how McMurray’s season unfolded:

By the numbers: McMurray earned the win, the third of his career, in a season with only five top-10 finishes. The victory was his lone top-five finish.

Season highlights: Winning at Talladega Superspeedway gave McMurray his second victory in his four-year career with Roush Fenway and the third of his career. McMurray finished sixth at Martinsville the week before the win to earn his lone back-to-back top-10 finishes of the season.

Key setbacks: Inconsistency. McMurray was up and down in the finishing order, in one stretch earning finishes of 10th, 38th, 11th and 42nd in a row. That type of rollercoaster run would become the theme of his season as he often followed top finishes with subpar runs. He led laps in only two races, and 32 of his 33 laps at the front came in his win.

Newsworthy moment: McMurray announced in November that he planned to join EGR and take over its No. 1 car beginning in 2010. That signified a return to his roots for McMurray, who debuted in the Cup series with team owner Chip Ganassi and ran three full-time seasons there and earned his first career victory with the organization.

In his words: “I am really excited about this opportunity with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as I think Juan Pablo [Montoya] and Martin have shown this season their equipment is as good as anyone’s in the garage," McMurray said of the move. "I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of their cars and once again competing for a NASCAR championship. It will also be fun to work with some of the people that I worked with when I was there a few years ago. They have really good people there. As an added bonus, I am really happy to have the opportunity to work with Bass Pro Shops as I grew up near Bass Pro’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo., and am a huge fan of their stores.”