Jamie McMurray turned his debut in the No. 17 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion into a weekend to remember after fighting rainy skies and an exhausting double-header to finish 6th in Monday’s Stater Brothers 300 at California Speedway. The wait was well worth it as McMurray held the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion in the top-10 for the majority of the day and went on to finish 6th for his first top-10 of 2008.
When the green flag dropped, McMurray fought hard to keep the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion close to the top-10. After a strong pit stop, McMurray restarted the race 5th on lap 52.
“It’s pretty good, I just need it to run green,” said McMurray.
The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was 3rd on lap 80 when McMurray started reporting on loose conditions. The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was fighting traffic around 15th place when the next caution came out on lap 106. With only eight laps on the current set oftires, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer decided not to make a pit stop, a call that led to McMurray restarting the race in the lead with 40 laps remaining. He fought hard to remain in the top-10 and when the checkered flag flew McMurray crossed the line 6th for his first top-10 of the season.
“The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was really good for most of the day,” said McMurray.
Regan Smith did what he could to show he deserves to be in the U. S. Army No. 01 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS currently being driven by Mark Martin on the Nextel cup circuit. Martin will drive the 01 at Las Vegas and Atlanta. But Smith is scheduled to debut the Car of Tommorrow (COT) version of the 01 in Bristol. Smith turned in a strong performance in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway, posting a ninth-place finish in the Stater Brothers 300. The result catapulted the 23-year-old Ginn Racing driver from 26th to ninth in the Busch point standings.
"This was a solid performance for our Ginn Resorts team," said Smith, who finished ahead of 13 of the 21 Nextel Cup drivers competing in the 150-lap, 300-mile event. "Doug (Randolph, crew chief) did an awesome job calling the race and I can't say enough about our pit stops-- they were awesome." "Awesome," sounds like Martin.
Smith qualified 26th and raced his way into the top 10 by Lap 50. While Randolph made adjustments to the car to compensate for changing track and weather conditions, Smith drove patiently and methodically, staying in or near the top-10 for the majority of the race.
Matt Kenseth dominated the Auto Club 300 for his first Busch Series win of the season. The next stop on the Busch Series schedule will be next Sunday (March 4) in Mexico City. The road course event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be televised live on ESPN2, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET.
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