Jamie McMurray and the No. 26 Crown Royal team took a gamble near the end of the race that paid off with their second top-10 finish in two weeks. Crew Chief Larry Carter made the call to pit when no one else came down pit road. The gamble paid off and the team was rewarded with their fifth top-10 finish of season.
Pole winner Jimmie Johnson led the field of 43 cars to the green flag at 2:21pm, before a crowd of over 100,000 fans at Pocono Raceway. McMurray started from the 41st position. Throughout most of the afternoon, the No. 26 team moved up the board as high as 20th, but wasn't able to make a charge to the front.
When the caution flag came out again on lap 137 for a wreck off turn two, crew chief Carter had a plan. On lap 139, Carter summoned a hesitant McMurray down pit road for what would be a two tire and fuel stop. During the stop, Carter called for four tires. The Crown Royal pit crew reacted to the call and moved to the left side to change two additional tires. McMurray exited pit road in the 35th position, and at the time, unsure with the call to pit.
As the racing continued on, Carter knew the No. 26 team would only have to pit one additional time to make it to the scheduled distance of 200 laps, and that most other teams on pit road would have to pit twice. On lap 155, the leaders began coming down pit road for scheduled pit stops. McMurray remained on the track and eventually was scored as the leader; earning the team five additional points.
On lap 170, Carter called McMurray back down pit road for four tires and fuel. After exiting in the 21st position, it was left into the hands of McMurray to make it to the end. And as the laps counted down, drivers ahead of McMurray dove down pit road for a splash of fuel to make to the end, but not the No. 26 team. With just 10 laps remaining in the event, McMurray was scored 14th. During the final lap of the race, McMurray took the white flag from the 13th position, and was able to pick up four more positions on the last lap to finish ninth.
“We certainly didn’t have the best car out there today, but we made the most of our finish,” said McMurray following the race. “Larry and Derek (Stamets) made a great call to pit when no one else came down pit road. After the call, I was pretty upset because it looked like it was going to rain, and I felt we gave up a lot of track position, but when the skies cleared and we only had to pit one more time, I knew that Larry had made the right call. We took a gamble this afternoon and it paid off in a top-10 finish for this Crown Royal team.”
When Jamie McMurray's No. 26 Ford went sailing off Daytona International Speedway on the 131st lap Saturday night, any chance he had to defend his victory in last year's Pepsi 400 disappeared.
But his Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan stormed towards the front of the Coke Zero 400 as McMurray and their fifth teammate, 2003 Pepsi 400 winner Greg Biffle, faltered. In the end Edwards (second), Kenseth (third) and Ragan (fifth) were packed in the top five when the race ended under caution; the top-three Roush Fenway drivers made gains.
But it wasn't enough to satisfy all of them. Edwards, who came into the race fourth in the standings, remained in fourth. But his No. 99 Ford's nose was scant feet behind the front of Busch's No. 18 Toyota when the 11th and final caution flew, and he definitely wanted more.
Kenseth, whose fourth place was a career best in 15 Daytona starts, had a car that came and went, but it was coming when it mattered most, and a four-point gain in the standings, to ninth, was the payoff. But even he had visions of something better.
Ragan had the most consistent car all night long, as he started sixth, was in the top five for the first 30 laps and only fell out of the top 20 on one 10-lap rundown sheet. Ragan, who scored his second fifth-place finish in only his fourth career Daytona start, said he had a lot of help along the way.
Jamie McMurray leaving Roush "Rumor" stories continue to be picked up by Jayski and run on his news stories page indicating there is still interest in the subject. So at the risk of running the story in the ground, as a Jamie fan I am continuing my series of posts on the matter. Just say uncle if you have had enough of them. If your interested in continuing to follow the story, just continue to leave positive (or at least neutral) feedback and I 'll keep posting them.
Dave Rodman at NASCAR.com has published the typical story regarding Jamie's denials. What surprises me is that Dave writes like he actually believes Jamie with very little appearance of "Doubt" in his story or even a little "tongue in cheek."
"Friday at Pocono Raceway, Jamie McMurray adamantly took himself out of the Silly Season mix -- at least for the rest of this season. Last weekend as the Sprint Cup Series competed at Dover International Speedway, published reports citing unidentified sources had McMurray, one of five Cup drivers at Roush Fenway Racing, either opting out of his contract or that it would be discontinued."
Adamant? The rest of the season? Say it ain't so Dave. Surely you are not 100% convinced.
In my book there is at least a 15% to 20% chance that Jamie is leaving Roush this year. If Greg Biffle signs with Roush again, make those odds 20% to 25%. And if Tony Stewart leaves Gibbs Racing, make them 25% to 33%. Those are getting to be pretty good odds. And if we talk 2010 the odds are at least 33% to 50%.
"McMurray wouldn't speculate about why the stories were written and that neither he nor anyone affiliated with him had made inquiries to other teams about driving opportunities. He didn't want to talk about any of it."
When your being asked to publicly discuss business deals that are better kept private it is a good idea not to want to talk about it. Doh!
The news this past week that Jamie McMurray is job hunting probably does not come as a great surprise to many. Though McMurray has denied such speculation, critics have had him with one foot out the door of his Roush Fenway ride ever since the beginning of 2008. Currently 22nd in the Cup standings with just two Top 10 finishes, the 31-year-old Joplin, Missouri native simply has never lived up to the hype that surrounded him in 2005 as a player in perhaps the silliest of Silly Seasons in NASCAR history. His hiring was the culmination of a series of moves that led to power plays, contract squabbles, and some unrealistically high expectations — none of which may ever be fully realized.
The events of that 2005 Silly Season were really something to behold. First came the news that McMurray had reached agreement to drive for Roush — even though he was still under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing through 2006. It was looked at as a positive change for McMurray, who, after missing out on the Chase for two straight years, reached an agreement with a team that put all five of its cars in the title hunt — making them the premier organization in Cup at the time. But Ganassi, clearly not pleased with the prospects of losing McMurray, chose to initially refuse to allow his top driver to opt out of his contract, a decision that would delay a move to Roush until the beginning of 2007. The news created a firestorm of opinions surrounding the appropriateness of McMurray negotiating with another team owner when he had well over a year remaining on his agreement with Ganassi; and in return, Ganassi’s defiant refusal to simply allow McMurray to move over to the Roush camp to replace the then-retiring Mark Martin generated considerable debate, as well.
Shortly thereafter, in perhaps an even more surprising turn of events, NASCAR’s defending champion Kurt Busch announced that he was jumping the Roush ship to replace the legendary Rusty Wallace in the almost equally legendary No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Like McMurray, Busch requested his release from Roush for the 2006 season; but just like Ganassi, Roush refused to allow his championship caliber driver to bolt the team early. It was a cruel twist of irony that threatened to shut down both deals; however, in the end both McMurray and Busch were granted their requests to move to new teams. The owners fully capitulated — albeit after some backroom deals were made — and McMurray was permitted to move to Roush at the conclusion of the 2005 season, with Jack Roush responding in kind and allowing Kurt Busch to defect a year early to Penske.
By the time the release was given, McMurray’s original plans of replacing a retiring Mark Martin had derailed; instead, he essentially replaced Busch, working with the same team but with a new car number — the No. 26 instead of Busch’s No. 97. Martin, who had originally agreed to stay another year when it was thought that McMurray would be held to his contract with Ganassi, later agreed to stick around to help old friend Jack Roush out of his dilemma as to how to fill the void left by the unexpected exodus of Busch.
As the year began, Jamie McMurray came to Roush amid a lot of hullabaloo; but with great expectations, as well. Rumored to have been lured away from Ganassi with one of the most lucrative contract offers in NASCAR history — reported at $20 million plus performance bonuses — it appeared that Jamie McMurray had arrived at just the right time to realize his full potential. And considering the successful team he had just landed at — a team that had just won the 2004 Cup championship — he seemed a sure bet to become a major player in NASCAR for years to come.
Following in Martin’s footsteps was going to be a tall order, and it’s one you can bet that Jack Roush and his management team fully considered when deciding on a driver best suited to fill that role. Roush certainly knows race car drivers, having his share of success in picking them, and Jamie McMurray seemed to possess all the necessary qualities he desired. Not only did Roush believe the man was talented enough to strap into the seat of his No. 6 Ford, but McMurray also appeared a success in the boardrooms, a trait that’s equally as important in today’s NASCAR. And like Martin, Jamie McMurray is a nice guy, too; he is seemingly always in control of his emotions, both on and off the track. Young and handsome, Jack Roush believed that he would have a driver that he could not possibly go wrong on.
It certainly is both puzzling and hard to figure how even the best drivers have found the right combination to rise to the top of their profession sometimes. It all seems so easy, as if everything just aligns properly. A driver at the top of his game pairs with a crew chief that seems almost to be able to read his mind; holes open when wrecks seem unavoidable; a consistently winning driver’s car performs as if it is bulletproof.
But these are not a set of circumstances that have graced Jamie McMurray with any regularity during his tenure at Roush-Fenway. In fact, it is quite the opposite. And even when McMurray was given the ultimate authority to shape his program — bringing on Larry Carter as crew chief and revamping the No. 26 team from top to bottom — it did nothing to change what were ultimately disappointing and inconsistent results.
In the end, barring a miracle, Jack Roush will release McMurray before the end of his contract. Even if it’s not until 2009, he surely cannot resign him with the performance — or lack thereof — that the two have experienced for more than two years. And when it happens, the move won’t be personal … just business.
It’s often difficult to imagine famous, wealthy athletes leading “normal” lives, because often they don’t. But Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray experienced one of the responsibilities of American citizenship last month when he served jury duty.
Introspective throughout career changes, McMurray has always seemed like the kind of driver that tried to understand the inner workings of decision-making. Serving on a jury seemed to only deepen that need to analyze and think about things.
"The case that I was on was very intense and I woke up this morning thinking about it because it was just an incredible case," he said. "It's incredible to me that they put 12 people in charge of someone's life or someone's future, but I was a part of that."
McMurray's case involved a man who was accused of assaulting a 10-year-old girl and was struck by the testimony. Sharing the jury with people from a variety of backgrounds, including a first-grade school teacher, a truck driver and a dairy farmer was a somewhat surreal experience - and one McMurray says that he's glad he went through. But he's also glad it is over.
"So they found out I was a race-car driver and everyone kind of giggled in the courtroom," he said.
But then he had a more serious encounter. He was getting ready to head to lunch on the second day and was exiting the restroom when he was stopped - by the girl's father. He said that the man seemed to realize who McMurray was and then asked for an autograph. McMurray said that he told the man he might be able to do it later. When he returned from lunch and was in the jury room, McMurray was summoned by the judge and asked if he had spoken with someone on the prosecution's side. The judge asked him if that would affect his decision.
"I'm not biased," he said. "I have no opinion on anything,"
Once he told her no, the case proceeded.
"It was really neat, because I was in a room and I was a normal person," he said. "Even though they wanted me to sign stuff, I was a normal person and people didn't really talk about it. Yet, you're in a group of people that all have different occupations and it was nice to just sit there and listen to their stories and hear them talk about their families. It was a good experience."
How did the trial end?
“The guy was actually found not guilty.”
McMurray said being in the jury room trying to reach a verdict “was almost like a movie. I watched the movie ‘The Runaway Jury,’ and as I’m really living this I’m like, ‘This really is like what happened. I've watched Perry Mason and these shows that have been on forever," he said. "It's kind of like that, but it's not. You’re actually in charge of someone’s future.
"Until you deal with the intensity that goes along with it, it's hard to explain. I wouldn’t trade it, but I don’t want to go back. If I ever get (called again), I’ll tell them I don’t want to do it because I didn’t realize how intense that was going to be. You certainly pay a lot of attention. It was for four days. If it was a civil case, I probably would do it, but being a criminal case, I’ll never do that again."
McMurray's biggest fear outside of deciding the fate of another human was having to read that fate to the judge in the courtroom.
"You don't know if there is going to be sighs or cheers," he said. "I was fortunate that the clerk actually read the verdict so I didn't have to go through that."
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