On a beautiful afternoon in Wine Country, Jamie McMurray, who started from the 18th position drove his No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion into the top five just 30 laps into this afternoon’s Save Mart 350. After running the majority of the race in the top three, McMurray had his dominating run cut short just five laps from the checkered flag. As the checkered flag flew for race winner Kyle Busch, McMurray and the No. 26 Crown Royal were left with a disappointing 18th-place finish.
The No. 26 Ford Fusion was scored in the 12th spot, and by lap 28, when the team made their first of two pit stops. Just three laps after the No. 26 team completed their pit stop, the caution flag was displayed for debris on the race track.
Following the caution period, McMurray restarted the race in the fourth position, and was able to maintain his top-five running position until their next pit stop on lap 68. After all the teams had completed green flag stops, the No. 26 car was once again shown in the third position.
Again, just three laps later, the caution flag was displayed for a wreck in turn 11. This time on the restart, McMurray, who restarted third made a quick move on the car ahead of him, and was able to pass coming to the green flag. This moved McMurray into second place, and chasing the No. 18 car up the hill into turns one and two.
With only 10 laps remaining in the event, it appeared it was going to be a top-five finish for the No. 26 Crown Royal team. However, the caution flag was displayed on lap 101, as the No. 44 car went off the track in turn 9.
As the top five cars entered turn 7 after the restart, McMurray was hit from behind by the No. 29 which slid McMurray sideways into the side of the No. 20 car, taking out all three cars. With minimum damage, McMurray quickly jumped back into line, but lost more than 18 positions and was forced to restart the race in the 20th position.
“It’s so hard to believe what happen to us there at the end of the race,” said McMurray following the race. “I haven’t seen the replay, but from what I can tell, I was hit from behind by the No. 29, which sent us sideways collecting the No. 20 in the process."
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