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.
Coming to the checkered flag out of Turn 4 last Friday night July the 4th in Daytona, Mike Wallace was in position to record another Top 10 finish for the GEICO Racing team when his nephew Steven Wallace (say it ain't so Joe) decided fireworks were in order. The younger Wallace moved up the race track and sent his uncle into a 200-mph spin across the infield grass that culminated with the #7 GEICO Camry hitting the inside retaining wall hard. Mike Wallace and the GEICO Camry rested just a hundred yards or so from the finish line, with a destroyed race car and a 22nd place finish. Despite the misfortune on the last lap, Mike Wallace and the Gecko still sit in the 8th position in the point standings.
Saying his commitment to the New England Patriots, his focus on football, and his desire to win a Super Bowl title would remain his top priorities, Randy Moss announced July 3rd at Daytona International Speedway he was getting involved in NASCAR as a team owner in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Moss gained entry into the sport by purchasing a 50-percent stake of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and will pair with co-owner David Dollar in forming Randy Moss Motorsports, which will field a No. 81 Chevrolet Silverado for driver Willie Allen in the team's debut July 19 at Sparta, Ky.
Accustomed to making long hauls on the football field, Randy Moss acknowledged he was operating far afield from his chosen area of expertise when it came to owning a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team.
But the Patriots wide receiver, despite being new to the sport, said he was prepared to make a long-haul commitment.
Morgan-Dollar Motorsports has posted 13 victories in the truck series, 11 with Dennis Setzer and one each with Bobby Labonte and Clint Bowyer. Setzer finished second in the championship standings for three straight years (2003-2005) as Dollar's full-time driver.
NASCAR has had other NFL players, such as Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, and Roger Staubach, dabble in team ownership, only to fail. Moss is aware he could wind up suffering the same fate.
The 2008 Craftsman Truck Series continued Saturday with the O’Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park and the Dodge Boys took home a top-10 finish. Stacy Compton finished 10th after starting 15th in the #04 Red River Dodge Dodge Ram. Dennis Setzer finished 12th after starting 11th in the #18 Tahoe Smokeless Dodge Ram. Setzer and Compton are ranked 11th and 19th, respectively in the Craftsman Truck Serie's Points Standings.
Not much has gone right for Jamie McMurray since winning at Daytona International Speedway last July. He’s had only five top-10 finishes in the 35 races since 2007’s Pepsi 400, but there’s something about being a defending champion of a race that can raise your spirits. McMurray edged Kyle Busch by inches at Daytona last year in the final restrictor-plate race for NASCAR’s old Cup car. The win was the second of McMurray's career and snapped a six-year winless streak.
McMurray’s No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford will sport a special Irwin Industrial Tools paint scheme in this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, a scheme similar to the one used last year.
McMurray hasn’t been close to victory lane this year, with a best finish of eighth at Martinsville earlier this season. He was 18th at Infineon Raceway and 41st last weekend at New Hampshire after being in a crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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