McMurray Brings Home 21st-Place Finish in Wrecked Filled Coca-Cola 600
CONCORD, N.C. (May 29, 2005)
--- It was an eventful race to say the least for Jamie McMurray and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. After starting 11th, McMurray battled a "super loose" race car in the opening laps. Thirty laps into the 400-lap event the car's handling became extremely tight, and so the story goes. The handling issues, coupled with two spins midway through the race, and you would think McMurray would've finished somewhere towards the rear of the field. The driver and team remained positive and optimistic throughout all of the adversity, however, and their determination rewarded them with a 21st-place finish in the end.
NASCAR's longest race of the season, which lasted 5 hrs., 13 min. and 57 sec., and was marred with a record 22 cautions, resembled more of a short track event than a 1.5-mile speedway race. Cars where running into each other all night, but luckily McMurray and gang were able to avoid the on-track incidents. Although McMurray spun the car twice, once on lap 227 and again on lap 238, the No. 42 car crossed the finish line in one piece.
"It almost seemed like something broke," said McMurray. "I'd been driving pretty aggressive exiting the corners all night, but we loosened up the car prior to the spin and I guess it was just too much. The car snapped loose on me and I wasn't expecting it. I think the second spin was a result of the spoiler being knocked down, but the guys did a nice job of repairing that damage and the car was pretty stable after that."
From the word go McMurray had his hands full behind the wheel. Immediately after the start of the race he radioed in that the car was incredibly loose and he needed to be in the high groove in order to keep from spinning out. Shortly thereafter the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge became extremely tight and as a result McMurray slipped from his 11th-place starting position to 21st before pitting under green on lap 60 for four tires, fuel, track bar and air pressure adjustments. The over-the-wall crew performed the service and McMurray found himself running in 21st after the cycle of stops.
The adjustments made helped the handling considerably and McMurray was able to race up to 17th before the third caution on lap 92.
"This thing is evil (loose) for the first few laps on new tires, but then it's pretty good," McMurray explained. "It's a little tight in the center but decent off."
"Okay Jamie, we're going to take a half pound out of both fronts and raise the track bar," replied crew chief Donnie Wingo.
Racing resumed on lap 97 with McMurray in 15th. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge ran its best during the next segment of the race, and McMurray charged up to a race high seventh before taking the sixth caution flag on lap 138. He commented that the car's handling was neutral, and he pitted for four tires and fuel with no adjustments.
The car continued to perform well in the handling department. McMurray was able to maintain position in the top 15 as the race drew towards the halfway point. During the seventh caution on lap 162, however, the team elected to take two tires and it seemed to hurt the cars attitude considerably.
McMurray fell back to 23rd by the time the eighth caution flag flew on lap 199, and he commented that the car had became too tight exiting the corners and he couldn't keep his momentum up. The crew serviced the car with four tires, fuel and adjustments to loosen up the chassis and sent McMurray back into competition in 23rd. The car continued to push in the corners, so during the 10th caution the crew made some considerable adjustments to hopefully overcome the situation. Along with air pressure adjustments, the team elected to pull a spring rubber out of the left rear.
Now is when the race got pretty interesting from the driver's point of view. Shortly after a restart on lap 224, McMurray looped the car exiting Turn 2. The car sustained some minor rear end damage, but the crew was able to repair it and send McMurray back into competition without losing a lap. Soon after the next restart he spun again.
It didn't take long for McMurray regain his confidence as he raced from 33rd up to 11th before the 17th caution on lap 307. He radioed in that the car was loose entering the corners and tight in the center, so the crew made a few slight adjustments and sent him back out in 19th because many teams opted not to pit during the stop.
McMurray and crew could never quite put their finger on the handling for the remainder of the event. The car became extremely tight as the race came to a close and to add to their troubles, a caution flag flew just after they made a green flag stop, and as a result they found themselves two laps down. McMurray was able to gain one of the laps back and race up to 21st before taking the checkered flag.
The car continued to perform well in the handling department. McMurray was able to maintain position in the top 15 as the race drew towards the halfway point. During the seventh caution on lap 162, however, the team elected to take two tires and it seemed to hurt the cars attitude considerably.
McMurray maintained ninth position in the overall standings and he is only eight points out of eighth position and just 65 points out of fifth. His Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Casey Mears and Sterling Marlin finish 34th and 39th respectively.
The Nextel Cup Series teams head to Dover next for the 13th race of the 2005 season. The race is schedule to air live on FX next Sunday, June 5.
McMurray's Quotes.
"Man, that was a pretty crazy race out there. We struggled with the handling early on, but got the Texaco/Havoline Dodge going pretty good about midway through the race. I don't really know what happened when we spun. The car had been really stable at that point on the race track, but we pulled a spring rubber and it just snapped loose on me. From then on the car was never quite the same."
"Of course I would've liked to finish better, but I'm very happy with the effort of the Texaco/Havoline team tonight. We were making changes during every stop and they got them done and kept me in position all night. They kept their heads in the game and we were able to salvage a respectable finish out of something that could've been much worse. We'll put this one behind us and move onto Dover."
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