Jamie McMurray Rallies to Top-10 Finish in Pocono - 14 June 2004
LONG POND, Pa., (June 14, 2004)
--- Jamie McMurray and the Texaco/Havoline team continued their march towards the "Chase for the Championship" with a ninth-place finish yesterday in the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway. It was McMurray's eighth top-10 finish of the season. The Joplin, Mo. native currently sits 12th in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points, only four points out of the NASCAR Top 10.
"We got lucky today," McMurray said. "We messed up our pit strategy. Then it worked for us. It seemed like one set of tires was really bad and it made us go all the way back to 25th or 26th. We should have been better than we were, so to come out of here with a ninth-place finish and gain some points on 10th place, it was not too bad of a day for this Texaco/Havoline team."
After qualifying 14th, McMurray struggled with a tight handling racecar in the early stages of the race. By lap 50, the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge was running in 14th place.
During a scheduled pit stop on lap 51, McMurray was fitted with four tires and fuel as the Texaco/Havoline crew made a chassis adjustment. McMurray exited pit road in 19th place.
On the restart, McMurray quickly radioed his crew that he thought he had a flat tire as his Texaco/Havoline Dodge was "out of control." By lap 60, McMurray had slipped to 27th place.
During the caution period on lap 61, McMurray headed for pit road for fresh tires and a chassis adjustment. He restarted from the 28th position.
As the race progressed, McMurray continued to fight the handling on his Texaco/Havoline Dodge as he was running 21st by lap 140.
When the caution flag waved on lap 157, McMurray headed for pit road for additional chassis adjustments to the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. He re-entered the race in the 18th position.
In the closing laps of the race, McMurray and the Texaco/Havoline used pit strategy to their advantage as numerous caution flags waved. With 10 laps to go, McMurray was running ninth.
The race would end under yellow with the Texaco/Havoline Dodge crossing the finish line in ninth place.
Next up for McMurray and the Texaco/Havoline team is the fast 2.0-mile oval of Michigan International Speedway for the running of the Michigan 400 this Sunday.
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Media Relations Contact Information
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Chip Ganassi Racing
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