Havoline.com: Racing: NASCAR Results

18 April 2004

Advance Auto Parts 500 Unofficial Finish


 
   01. Rusty Wallace          #2  Dodge Miller Lite
   02. Bobby Labonte          #18 Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
   03. Dale Earnhardt Jr.     #8  Chevrolet Budweiser
   04. Jimmie Johnson         #48 Chevrolet Lowe's
   05. Ryan Newman            #12 Dodge ALLTEL
   06. Jeff Gordon            #24 Chevrolet DuPont
   07. Jamie McMurray         #42 Dodge Texaco/Havoline
   08. Matt Kenseth           #17 Ford DeWalt Power Tools
   09. Sterling Marlin        #40 Dodge Coors Light
   10. Dale Jarrett           #88 Ford UPS

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Unofficial Points:


    
   01. Dale Earnhardt Jr.     1167  
   02. Kurt Busch             1162 
   03. Matt Kenseth           1155
   04. Jimmie Johnson         1088    
   05. Elliott Sadler         1069      
   06. Tony Stewart           1067 
   07. Jeff Gordon            1051 
   08. Rusty Wallace          1010
   09. Kasey Kahne            1007
   10. Kevin Harvick          1003 
   
   13. Jamie McMurray         964

McMurray Scores Another Top-10 in Martinsville -
18 April 2004

MARTINSVILLE, Va., (April 18, 2004) --- Jamie McMurray scored his second top-10 finish in only three starts at Martinsville Speedway today when the Texaco/Havoline Dodge scored a seventh-place finish in the Advance Auto Parts 500.

"I'm disappointed a little bit because we ran so well early on," McMurray said. "I couldn't tell them what to do to make the car better. Donnie (Wingo, crew chief) tried a couple of things, and we just could never hit on anything to make the Texaco/Havoline Dodge faster than it was. Some of those other guys got better, and we just kind of maintained where we were at. It's a big group effort, not only the guys on my team, but the guys back at the shop. Everybody has their act together right now. All three Ganassi Dodges are running well right now, so it's fun to come to the track. We were junk after we went back after the red flag. I don't know why. We were pretty good before the break. After the break we were terrible. The concrete wasn't really that big of a deal. The rubber is the issue. It's like you hit a curb in the middle of the corner and it upsets the car."

After qualifying second, McMurray settled into running a comfortable pace in the early stages of the race as he was maintaining second place by lap 100.

As the race reached the halfway stage, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was continuing to run second as the crew made minor air pressure adjustments with each pit stop to correct a tight condition.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers received a break in the form of a red flag for 1 hour and 15 minutes as a piece of concrete came up from the racing surface. After track officials repaired the hole, the race resumed on lap 291.

As a result of the red flag delay, the track surface cooled off and the Texaco/Havoline struggled with the handling as McMurray radioed that he had "no forward bite and was really loose."

By lap 415, he was running in the fifth position as the crew made an air pressure and track bar adjustment during a scheduled pit stop.

As the race reached the closing laps, McMurray continued to fight the handling on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge, and when the checkered flag fell, he crossed the finish line in seventh place.

McMurray leaves Martinsville remaining 13th in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series points. He is 39 points out of the NASCAR Top 10.

McMurray has posted two top-five and five top-10 finishes in the first nine races of 2004.

Next up for the Texaco/Havoline team is the fast, 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for the running of the Aaron's 499 this Sunday.

Photo: Getty Images/Allsport

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