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Jamie McMurray
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James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976 in Joplin, Missouri) is an American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start. He currently drives the #26 Crown Royal / Irwin Industrial Tools Ford Fusion full-time in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.
999, McMurray made 4 starts in the Craftsman Truck series.
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Encyclopedia
James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976 in Joplin, Missouri) is an American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start. He currently drives the #26 Crown Royal / Irwin Industrial Tools Ford Fusion full-time in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.
NASCAR career
In 1999, McMurray made 4 starts in the Craftsman Truck series. In 2000, he ran 15 Craftsman Truck races and posted 1 top-five and 4 top-ten finishes.
In 2001 and 2002, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving the #27 Williams Travel Centers Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Brewco Motorsports. The latter year turned out better for McMurray, as he won two races and finished sixth in the overall points standings.
Before the fall race at Richmond in 2002, Chip Ganassi announced McMurray as the driver of a Texaco-Havoline sponsored Dodge in 2003. Ganassi planned to have Jamie drive the #42 Dodge for seven races in 2002. Those plans were accelerated when Sterling Marlin fractured a vertebra at the Winston Cup Race at Kansas Speedway. He made his Cup debut filling in for Marlin at Talladega and one week later in just his second career NASCAR Winston Cup start, McMurray outraced Bobby Labonte to win the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, setting a modern era record. He was the last driver to win a NWCS race and not race the next week as Mike Bliss drove the #40 Coors Light Dodge at Martinsville Speedway while McMurray had a commitment to race NBS in Memphis.
In 2003, McMurray became a Winston Cup regular. He won the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Rookie of the Year competition by 37 points over Greg Biffle despite not winning a race (as Biffle, who won the Pepsi 400, had). McMurray had 5 top-5s for the year and finished 13th overall. He began competing part-time in the Busch Series.
In 2004, McMurray and his team were penalized 25 points after the Food City 500 for an incorrect "x-measurement," which proved costly when, later in the year, McMurray missed the Chase for the Cup by 15 points. However, he had 23 top-10s during the season, including 12 in the last 14 races, and finished 11th in the points standings, which earned him a $1 million bonus. Had he made the Chase for the Championship, he would have been 4th in points. He won a Craftsman Truck Series race, joining a short list of drivers that have won a race in all three of NASCAR's top touring series (Craftsman Truck, Busch, and NEXTEL Cup).
McMurray left the #42 team after the 2005 season to drive the #26 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Owner Chip Ganassi was initially adamant that McMurray would not be released for 2006. However, on November 7, 2005, McMurray was released from his contract. McMurray was originally supposed to go to the #6 Ford in 2006, but since Kurt Busch was released after an off-track incident, and Mark Martin announced he would race for another year, McMurray instead took over for Kurt Busch in the #97 Ford (which was renumbered #26). McMurray's contract with Roush Fenway Racing is one of the richest in NASCAR history with a guaranteed salary of $20 million dollars per year plus bonuses.
2006
In April 2006, Jack Roush moved Jimmy Fennig from crew chief of the #26 Ford to head Roush's Busch operations. Bob Osborne, who had been crew chief for Carl Edwards, moved to head the crew for McMurray. In 2006, he was an adviser for the drivers below 10th and trying to make the Chase For The Cup, since he had been in that position in the past two years. McMurray's best finish of the 2006 season came at Dover where he finished 2nd.
2007
McMurray began the 2007 season with crew chief Larry Carter, formerly from MWR and Penske Racing and sponsorship from Crown Royal and IRWIN Tools. On June 22, 2007 he won his 3rd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Pole, for the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350. On July 7th, 2007 McMurray won the Pepsi 400 by .005 of a second over Kyle Busch for his second career Cup win. The photo finish was the closest in Daytona International Speedway history and tied for the 2nd closest finish (1993 DieHard 500) since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993. McMurray finished the year 17th overall in the points.
2008
In the beginning of the 2008 season, McMurray encountered a string of poor finishes that relegated him to 36th in points and not guaranteed a spot in the field when NASCAR reached the spring Martinsville race, and the 2008 points went into effect. McMurray was required to qualify for the race on time. He qualified 5th, locking himself into the field as the fastest of the Go or Go Homers. He earned an 8th place finish in the race, securing himself back into the top 35 in points and a guaranteed starting position for the next race. Throughout the remainder of the season, he steadily climbed back into the top 20 in points. On October 11, 2008, McMurray rallied to finish 5th in the Bank of America 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway. It was his first top 5 finish since his victory at Daytona in July of the previous year. McMurray finished the 2008 season with three 3rd place finishes, and will re-unite with former crew chief Donnie Wingo in 2009; Crew Chief Larry Carter has announced he is moving to Yates Racing to be crew chief for Paul Menard. Jamie McMurray finished 16th in the 2008 standings.
2009
McMurray kicked off the 2009 season by dominating the final stages of the Budweiser Shootout, but lost the lead to Kevin Harvick on the last lap. McMurray finished second.
In Popular Culture
Races Won
Sprint Cup (2 career wins)
Nationwide Series
2004
2003
2002
- *McMurray won the last four Busch Series races to be run at Rockingham.
Craftsman Truck Series (1 career win)
External links
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