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.
As NASCAR makes its return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Greg Biffle's Roush Fenway team comes back for its third visit since John Henry and Red Sox ownership bought half of Jack Roush's race outfit, the organization comes to its quasi home looking stronger than it has on either of its two previous trips. After an inconsistent season in which its quintet of drivers didn't finish 12 percent of the races it started, and didn't put a driver in the top five during an average race, the Sprint Cup's best stable of Fords has reasserted itself this year.
Carl Edwards has placed among the top 10 more often than any other driver - doing so in 12 of 16 races - and his three wins are second, while Matt Kenseth is one of only five drivers with at least 10 top 10s. As a result, those two - Edwards fourth, Kenseth 12th - are in position to Chase for the Cup with 10 races remaining before the field of contenders is cut to a dozen. So is Biffle, who ranks seventh, while David Ragan is 14th, just 47 points from qualifying as well.
The drivers credited part of the improvement in performance to a simplified preparation process that now requires a team to ready one car rather than two because the so-called Car of Tomorrow has been fully incorporated to the Cup Series. But they also attributed a portion of their success to the work of Robbie Reiser, who was formerly Kenseth's crew chief, but moved into a role as Roush Fenway's general manager before the season.
There's still some room to go, especially with Jamie McMurray lagging behind the rest and currently running 20th. But even he is only 70 points behind his pace of a year ago, and as a whole the five drivers have already amassed nearly 700 more points than they had at this point a year ago.
The biggest leap belongs to Ragan, and if he can continue to improve, there's a legitimate chance Roush can put four cars in the Chase. Given McMurray's difficulties, it's unlikely they'll get five into NASCAR's version of the playoffs, as they did three years ago, but with a third of the contenders coming from their stable there would still be a decent shot of securing the team's third title of this decade.
"We know we've got to step it up," Biffle said, "and one of us has got to pull the title out."
In the past I have expressed an opinion that Juan Pablo Montoya is the best "driver" in NASCAR. After his own admission, I may have to reconsider that opinion.
"In Nascar, there are more than 40 cars racing wheel to wheel for up to three hours. “It’s harder here,” Montoya said. “When you run fifteenth, sometimes you think it sucks. But look at the big picture: fifteenth here is like sixth or seventh in F1, because there are twice as many cars. The incredible thing is here I run fifteenth or twentieth on average and there are four or five weeks in the year where I have a chance of winning. In F1 if you run sixth or seventh, you run sixth or seventh the whole year."
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."
When he fell out of the top 35 in the Sprint Cup standings in March, Jamie McMurray went to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia without a guaranteed spot but with a granite pillar of support. Jim McMurray, 60, made a special trip to the track to ensure his son kept his head up and his car in the race. It's a father-son formula that has been working for more than 20 years.
"I could have a horrible day, even when I made it to this level, and he would find something positive to say," say McMurray, 32. "My dad never pressured me. He always found a positive in the worst day."
McMurray started 2008 with five consecutive finishes outside the top 20. However, he enjoyed his best weekend of the year at Martinsville. McMurray started fifth and finished eighth, triggering a steady march upward in the standings. With his dad in attendance at the LifeLock 400, McMurray placed 10th for the second time in three weeks and continued the turnaround. He has climbed 15 spots in 10 races and ranks 21st entering Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
"We spent virtually every weekend together racing," says the elder McMurray, who is divorced. "But in the last five years, we've probably spent more time together than we did before."
The two live 10 minutes apart in Mooresville, N.C. McMurray's dad keeps his Mondays and Tuesdays open for his son and frequent golfing partner but says he doesn't offer much advice.
"Jamie does his homework about anything he does," his dad says. "If he asks, I say what I think would be best for him. But most of the time we think the same. He's a grown man and needs to make his own decisions."
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