O.K., I perused all of the Kyle Busch postings since Sunday's race and where's the outrage? I mean, if Kyle had clipped Dale Earnhart Jr. like that there would have been a 100 posts calling him out. But here this week there has been only some mention of his crashes overall last weekend. He hit Jamie McMurray man. For some of us this may be unforgivable!
Busch's globetrotting weekend skidded to a last-place ending. The Sprint Cup series points leader finished 43rd Sunday at the Pocono 500, set back by a wreck 47 laps into the race. Busch didn’t appear to see McMurray behind him on his right when Busch veered right and into McMurray. Busch then hit the wall, forcing him into the garage for major repairs.
"It’s really a shame our day had to end like that, we had a much better car,” said McMurray in the garage following the race. “I don’t know what happen with the 18 car, his spotter must have told him he was clear, when obviously he wasn’t. He tried to move into space that did not exist on the track and in the end, we were both victims. We had a much better Ford Fusion than 20th. It was a tough day and one of those deals that was completely out of our hands."
McMurray continued, "I’m really proud of all the guys on this No. 26 IRWIN Tools team; they really pushed hard today and we were able to salvage a somewhat good finish. We’ll take this and move on to Michigan next weekend.”
Busch said the mirror broke on the backup car while his crew tried to adjust it before the race, leaving him blind out of his right rear quarter panel. It appeared that Busch’s spotter tried to warn his driver over the radio about McMurray before Busch veered right, though Busch said in the garage that he didn’t get the message.
“So I couldn’t clear myself,” Busch said. “The spotter didn’t see say anything so I apologize to McMurray for wrecking their day.”
When a story will not go away they say it has legs. Stories continue to run about Jamie McMurray potentially leaving Roush Fenway Racing. And why shouldn't they? The picture is about as clear as mud. If Greg Biffle signs for another round with Roush Fenway this week then Jamie is in a position where he almost has to go to Roush and say O.K., what are your plans not only for 2009 but also for 2010?
In the interim, here is what Jamie had to say in an interview at Pocono.
Q: What are you doing next year?
A: The same thing that I'm doing this year: the Crown Royal, No. 26, with Roush Fenway.
Q: Why do you think (Jim) Utter (Writer, Charlotte Observer) thinks otherwise?
A: I don't know. I'm not a speculator.
Q: There's plenty of silly speculating going on. Are you putting out any feelers?
A: No, I have not.
Q: Have your representatives?
A: Not that I am aware of.
But really folks, how else could Jamie have answered these questions? While I want to believe Jamie, is it not possible he might have really been thinking.
Q: What are you doing next year?
A: Too bad I can't tell him my manager tells me, unofficially of course, that if Tony Stewart leaves Joe Gibbs that Joe would like to talk to me.
Q: Why do you think (Jim) Utter (Writer, Charlotte Observer) thinks otherwise?
A: He has pretty good sources and if I find out who leaked this I'll kill them.
Q: There's plenty of silly speculating going on. Are you putting out any feelers?
A: Of course I am you imbecile, don't you know I am on the short end of the stick at Roush given my performance this year and that NASCAR is forcing Roush to cut a team by 2010?
Q: Have your representatives?
A. Well of course they have, while the directions I have given them are unofficial directions, they already knew that Jack needs to sign Crown Royal up for another deal and it isn't unreasonable to believe that if Greg signs with Roush again next week that another announcement will follow that Crown Royal will be moved over to the 16 as his sponsor in a multi-year deal.
So there you have it, the politically correct answers on one hand and on the other what really might have been going on inside the brain of one Jamie McMurray.
Jamie McMurray and the No. 26 Crown Royal team entered this weekend looking to improve their position in the “Race to the Chase.” However, as McMurray entered turn one on lap 44 the car was pinched too low on the speedway, sending it careening into the outside retaining wall. The damage sent to the No. 26 machine to the garage for extensive service. After repairs to the Ford Fusion, the Crown Royal team returned to the speedway, salvaging a 33rd-place finish.
Two laps after a green flag restart, McMurray entered turn one with both the No. 17 and No. 48 above him on the high line. As the three cars made their way through the middle of the corner, McMurray lost the handling of his car, sending the tail end of his No. 26 machine into the outside retaining wall. The car sustained extensive damage, forcing the No. 26 team to head to the garage for service.
“It’s a shame we lost it over there in turn one because our Crown Royal Ford Fusion was really strong this weekend,” said McMurray following the race. “It’s tough to know that we could have gained so many points with some of the guys ahead of us having bad days as well. Hopefully this is it for us and we can go on to places like Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan and have really good runs.”
Nextel weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns to Pocono Raceway. The previous Pocono race was rain shortened – this weekend the team hopes for better weather and a better run. In McMurray’s last visit to the 2.5-mile tri-oval, he finished the race in the 29th position. The race begins at 3:00 p.m. Eastern with television coverage on ESPN and radio broadcasts through MRN.
Three races have been added to Mark Martin's limited 2007 schedule with Ginn Racing. The additional races include Pocono (Aug. 5), Richmond (Sept. 8) and Dover (Sept. 23).
"It has been nothing but a pleasure driving the U.S. Army Chevrolet for Ryan Pemberton and this team," said Martin. "The three races we've added are tracks where I typically enjoy racing. We were already set to run the first race at those tracks and now we'll look forward to going back for a second time."
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