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.”
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!
According to Winston Cup Scene (scenedaily.com) Jamie McMurray is unaware of any attempts by any of his agents to look into another ride possibility for 2009 or 2010. He says he's happy at Roush. But what else could he say? Really.
Jamie McMurray says that he has no plans to leave Roush Fenway Racing, nor does he have any knowledge of the team wanting to let him seek opportunities elsewhere. The NASCAR Sprint Cup driver seemed somewhat puzzled by a recent story that he could be seeking to leave the team and denied any intent to do so Friday at Pocono Raceway. McMurray joined Roush Fenway in 2006 and has a best finish of 17th in the standings since that time. He has one win with the organization.
While he has struggled this season – McMurray is 22nd in the driver standings, the deepest standing for any of the organization's five Cup teams – he says that he not only has no plans to leave, but that he has no knowledge of any work being done on his behalf to seek opportunities with other teams. McMurray specifically said that he had not put any feelers out concerning potential offers from elsewhere. Asked if anyone had done so on his behalf, such as an agent, he stated, "Not that I am aware of." He repeated that answer when asked if other teams had inquired about his status.
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.
Ginn Racing announced today the first 14 races of Mark Martin’s limited 2007 schedule, with highlights including a record extending 19th consecutive start in the Budweiser Shootout, his 23rd running of the famed Daytona 500 and his 18th consecutive start in the Nextel All-Star Challenge, an event he won in 1998 and 2005. When Martin is not in the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, rookie Regan Smith will pilot the Ginn Racing entry. The remainder of Martin’s Nextel Cup schedule will be announced later in the season. “I can’t tell you how excited I am about what we have going on in 2007,” said Martin. “It’s just a dream come true to be able to pick the races that we want to run in and to be able to do it with a full-time Cup team like the No. 01 Army team, it’s just more than I could have asked for.
“Basically we were able to sit down and work on a schedule that worked for everyone,” added Martin. “I just wasn’t ready to step completely back from Nextel Cup racing and I felt I had a little more to give out there. At the same time, I was ready to be done with the grind of the 38-race Cup schedule, and fortunately I was able to move over to Ginn Racing and have the opportunity to do what I wanted to do. “We open the schedule in the Budweiser Shootout and then the Daytona 500 and I’m really excited to take that Army Chevy out on the track at Daytona. Then we’ll run the next three races, before taking off Bristol and Martinsville. I am really looking forward to represent our brave soldiers both here and abroad.”
Martin will pilot the No. 01 Army Chevrolet for Ginn Racing in the season’s first four point events and in the All-Star Shootout in February. After starts in the Daytona 500 and at California, Las Vegas and Atlanta, Martin will take off the following races at Bristol and Martinsville. The break will put an end to Martin’s string of 617 consecutive starts dating back to Feb. 14, 1988. “Streaks and numbers like that really say more about the fact that you were fortunate enough to stay healthy and keep your ride for a lot of years,” said Martin. “It is something that I’ve been proud of, but it’s also something that it’s time to step away from. It’s been a great run with that, but we’ll be back in a few weeks and that’s perfect for me.”
Mark Martin’s First Half 2007 NEXTEL Cup Schedule
Feb. 10 - Budweiser Shootout @ Daytona International Speedway Feb. 18 - Daytona 500 Feb. 25 - California Speedway March 11 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 18 - Atlanta Motor Speedway April 15 - Texas Motor Speedway April 21 - Phoenix International Raceway May 5 - Richmond International Raceway May 12 - Darlington Raceway May 19 - Nextel All-Star Challenge May 27 - Cola-Cola 600 June 3 - Dover International Speedway June 10 - Pocono Raceway June 17 - Michigan International Speedway
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