McMurray Battles to 17th-Place Finish in Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala., (October 3, 2004)
--- Jamie McMurray, sporting a retro "Rising Star" paint scheme, battled to a 17th-place finish in the EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. McMurray leaves Talladega maintaining 11th place in points, 36 points ahead of pursuer Kevin Harvick.
"We just fought a really tight condition on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge," McMurray said. "Every time I would work my way through the field, the car would get tight. It definitely was a typical Talladega race. For the most part, everyone drove a clean race. At least we finished this restrictor-plate race. We haven't had much luck on these tracks."
After qualifying 24th, McMurray radioed to his crew that his car was too tight to run on the bottom of the track. By lap 46, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was running in 24th place.
During a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 96, McMurray headed for pit road and was serviced with two right-side tires and fuel while air pressure adjustments were made to free the car up. He exited pit road in 18th place.
During a caution period on lap 123, McMurray once again headed for pit road as he took four tires and fuel while another round of chassis adjustments was made. However, as he was exiting the pit stall, he spun his Texaco/Havoline Dodge on pit road. McMurray made no contact with another vehicle and continued down pit road. He restarted the race from the 35th position.
As the laps clicked off, McMurray continued to fight a tight handling condition on his Texaco/Havoline Dodge as he was running in 24th place by lap 168.
As the race reached the final laps, McMurray found himself in a huge pack of cars as he maneuvered through a real-life chess match on the 2.66-mile superspeedway.
When the checkered flag waved, McMurray's Texaco/Havoline Dodge crossed the finish line in 17th place.
Next up for the Texaco/Havoline team is Kansas Speedway for the running of the Banquet 400 this Sunday.
View the EA Sports 500
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