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.
To listen to the hype surrounding the beginning of this NASCAR season, the Hendrick Motorsports behemoth is poised to roll over everyone in its path. This amuses Jack Roush, who not so long ago was the other behemoth in the garages.
By JIM ALEXANDER The Press-Enterprise
Two years ago, when Matt Kenseth won the winter Cup Series race at Fontana, it finished a Roush sweep of the weekend after Mark Martin had won the truck race and Greg Biffle the Saturday Busch Series race. Roush had just come off two championships in the previous three years (Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in '04), and had placed all five of its drivers in the Chase for the Cup in '05. They were, some daffy columnist suggested at the time, the Yankees of NASCAR because of their financial resources and research and development assets.
The point is that Hendrick ascended to what appeared to be super-team status when Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed on, creating a colossal marketing/competitive triumvirate of Earnhardt, two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Yet through the first two weeks of the 2008 season, Penske's Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards have won races, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch -- the guy Hendrick tossed overboard to make room for Earnhardt -- leads the points standings.
Edwards, Kenseth, Biffle, David Ragan and Jamie McMurray acquitted themselves fairly well at Fontana in Roush Fenway's Ford Fusions. Besides Edwards' triumph, which he celebrated with his traditional back flip, Kenseth finished fifth, Ragan 14th, Biffle 15th and McMurray 22nd.
Becoming a Jamie McMurray fan is a learning experience. I have found that perhaps the best site for Jamie is the Gillette Young Guns site. They do race recap videos every week. I don't see that on many other sites other than maybe the NASCAR site. But on this site, your guaranteed to find something new about two or three of the young guns.
This week the video features Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman discussing the Car of Tommorrow (COT). Then the recap features Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Johnson passes Jeff Burton, deals with brake issues, gets spun by Juan Pablo Montoya and finishes 5th. Newman drives a snow plow, saves fuel and finishes 14th.
CONCORD, N.C. -- An unusually clean and uneventful Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway erupted into brotherly chaos on the second lap of the fourth and final segment of the event Saturday night, as Busch brothers Kurt and Kyle got together and ended each other's evening (watch video).
Alan Gustafson, crew chief of Kyle Busch's No. 5 Chevrolet, blamed Kurt Busch. Kyle? Well, it seemed he threatened to kick his older brother's butt on his radio immediately after the incident. But he snuck out of the track afterward without speaking to the media, so he was unwilling to clarify his position.
Kurt blamed Kyle. "We got together," said Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Dodge. "I was making a clean move on the 31 [of driver Jeff Burton], and then I had a car to my inside when I'm on the bottom lane."
That car was the one being driven by Kyle Busch. Kurt said he knew the day would come when the two got into each other on a Nextel Cup racetrack. He just didn't think it was going to be Saturday night.
"I was waiting for the day when we got together and we did it when we were racing for a million bucks," Kurt said. "You know, the tough part is I wrecked real close to the end. "That was a bummer, to have my little brother pull that move on me. Maybe I should have given an inch instead of taken an inch from him -- but hey, that's what the All-Star race is all about. I just hate that I've got a wrecked racecar and so does he."
Listen to the audio with the video. The whole SPEED broadcst team blamed Kyle. And they were right to do so in my opinion. Alan and Kyle need to get their heads out of their ####. Who knows? If Kyle keeps wrecking cars and complaining about the COT, and Alan can't get his head out of his #### and straighten Kyle out, well then there just might be room at the inn for Dale Jr. and Tony Jr.,.
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