McMurray Musters 25th Out of No. 42 Home123 Dodge in Drafty Desert Night
PHOENIX, Ariz. (April 23, 2005)
--- An ill-handling 800-horsepower NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series stock car, matched with Phoenix International Raceway's ill-tempered 1-mile bullring, proved to be an insurmountable combination for Jamie McMurray and the Home123/Texaco/Havoline team in Saturday night's inaugural 312-lap Subway Fresh 500. The Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates wheelman struggled to keep his blue and white No. 42 Home123 Dodge on the preferred racing line for the majority of the race due to loose conditions, but was able to steer clear of trouble and find his way to the finish line a lap down in 25th.
Inclement weather, fueled by commanding desert winds, came crashing in over Turn 2 mid-afternoon and delaying the start of PIR's recently added second NEXTEL Cup Series event. Once the green flag dropped, McMurray was able to get a clean start and work his way up to as high as 22nd by lap 74. Unfortunately, the Joplin, Mo., native and his Home123/Texaco/Havoline squad battled a loose Dodge Charger all night, leaving the Ganassi brain trust perplexed on nearly every pit stop.
Air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments couldn't unravel the mystery McMurray faced on almost every lap, so the team decided to gamble in the late stages of the race by staying out when the leaders pitted on Lap 240. As a result, the Home123 Dodge flashed up to eighth on the scoring pylon briefly, but quickly fell victim to the hard-charging pack that left McMurray in arrears of the frontrunners as the lap count dwindled into the desert night.
"Qualifying where we did certainly never helps, but we just fought a loose car all night," said McMurray, who fell one spot to 15th in The Chase with 912 championship markers. "We went up on tire pressures, and then back down. We went up on the track bar, and then back down, but nothing seemed to work. By the time we were about three-quarters of the way through I ended up being tight, so it was a difficult night for us. I'm confident we'll rebound though. We just take the car to Talladega and get after it again."
McMurray's teammates Sterling Marlin and Casey Mears finished 26th and 39th, respectively, in the Subway Fresh 500.
Tune into Fox television next Sunday May 1st at 12:30 p.m. ET as McMurray tries his hand at the monstrous, and always intimidating 2.6-mile Talladega Superspeedway for the Aaron's 499.
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