McMurray's Bad Luck at Daytona Continues
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (July 5, 2004)
--- Jamie McMurray's misfortune at Daytona International Speedway continued Saturday night as a hole in the oil pan ended the Texaco/Havoline team's night early. McMurray finished 37th in the Pepsi 400. As a result, McMurray dropped to 13th in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points and is currently 151 points out of the NASCAR Top 10 for the Chase for the Championship.
"It definitely was not our night," McMurray said. "We struggled with the car all night, and then knocked a hole in the oil pan, so this is pretty frustrating. All the points we gained last weekend in Sonoma we just gave away tonight."
After qualifying 32nd, McMurray fought the handling on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge early in the race as he radioed the crew the car was extremely tight. By lap 18 he was running in the 21st position.
"I hit every curve as hard as I could and jumped them," McMurray said. "When I got behind Jeff (Gordon), it seemed like the harder you try here the slower you go, so I thought I was going to just try to do what Jeff was doing. I was going to try to miss the curves and just do what I could, and I just kept getting slower. So I started back hitting the curves and running out of control and we were faster."
McMurray's misfortune continued on lap 44 during a caution flag pit stop. While entering pit road, McMurray made contact with the No. 09 machine of Bobby Hamilton, Jr. As a result, McMurray spun sideways, but was able to avoid contact with the pit road wall. After gathering it back up, McMurray headed down pit road to his pit stall for service.
McMurray continued to fight the handling on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge and by the halfway point in the race was running 34th.
McMurray's night finally ended on lap 126 when white smoke began to billow from underneath the car. McMurray was forced to go behind pit wall to determine the culprit. Upon inspection it was discovered that a hole had been knocked in the oil pan, thus ending the night for the Texaco/Havoline team.
Next up for the Texaco/Havoline team is the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway this Sunday. McMurray finished eighth in the event last year.
View the Pepsi 400
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