| |  | | CIA Stock Photo | In 2007, McMurray and Larry Carter came together, and the improvement is evident. | | | | THE WINNER'S CIRCLE | Drought gave McMurray painful perspective | New crew chief signals rebirth of the #26 team |
| | By Tony Bolick / Sporting News Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- There was so much noise on Jamie McMurray’s radio, he didn’t know who had won Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
But after a moment, McMurray learned his 166-race winless streak of five years was over.
“I don’t know who said it,” McMurray said. “I just started beating my fist against the wheel and the leg braces, almost into pain. I was just so excited.”
In a flash of .005 seconds, McMurray edged past Kyle Busch to erase that span that McMurray had taken for granted the first time around in 2002, when he won in his second Cup race.
“When I won Charlotte, I had run some truck and Busch races, but I don’t think I grew to appreciate how hard it is at this level,” McMurray said.
“I don’t think I realized how important it was to not only be a great driver, but to have all the right people around you.”
QUICK FIZZLE
McMurray, 31, burst onto the scene in October 2002 while subbing for injured Sterling Marlin with Chip Ganassi. He won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in his second start, catapulting into the limelight. But things were much harder after that, and the limelight quickly fizzled.
“For every driver, for every crew chief, for everyone in this sport,” he said. “You always think, ‘Well, if I was just in his car, I could win.’
I thought that.”
Then came the move to Roush Fenway Racing in 2006.
Surely things would get better — but it didn’t. In fact, he had career lows in top 10s (seven) and only three top fives. He finished a career-worst 25th in the points standings.
“It just seemed like last year I’d be like, ‘It can’t get any worse than that,’ and I’d show up the next week and I’d be like, ‘It did,’ ” he said. “And then at the end of the year, going through a couple of crew chiefs.”
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
But in 2007, McMurray and Larry Carter came together, and the improvement is evident. During the spring, the team had a run of five tops 10s in seven races. After another top 10 at Michigan last month, McMurray’s dry spell nearly ended at Infineon Raceway, where he started from the pole, only to run dry on gas and finish 37th.
“We put it together,” car owner Jack Roush said, “but the rebirth of this team, to do what we’re doing with it this year, is Jamie first at the center of it and Larry second. My hat’s off to them for doing such a great job.”
Now McMurray is on the way back up. As he heads to Chicago this week, he is 13th in the points, 49 from the coveted 12th spot, the new cutoff in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
“I don’t think we’ll change what we’ve been doing,” Carter said. “We go every week to try to win. We’re just going to keep working toward that goal.” | | Posted July 11, 2007 , 10:24 pm EST
Last Updated July 13, 2007 , 10:06 pm EST | | | | | | |
