McMurray Battles Tight Race Car, Brings Home a 22nd-Place Finish at Chicagoland
JOLIET, Ill. (July 10, 2005)
--- If not for some right front fender damage sustained when McMurray got into the back of the No. 9 after a restart on lap 125, the No. 42 Home123 Dodge clearly would have been capable of finishing in the top-15 or better. The accident was no fault of McMurray's, as Kasey Kahne had to check up in front of him to avoid spinning, leaving him no where to go. The car had been tight prior to the accident, but the condition increased considerably afterwards. The Home123/Texaco/Havoline team did the best they could to repair the fender and McMurray gave it all he had until taking the checkered flag in 22nd.
The command to start the engines took place around 2:30 CT with McMurray sitting 36th on the starting grid. By the time NASCAR threw a scheduled competition caution on lap 25, McMurray had raced his way up to 21st. The caution was thrown to give the teams a chance to check their tire wear since there had been some problems during the course of the weekend, and there were some unknowns about how the tires would hold up in race conditions. Everything checked out okay for the No. 42 other than being slightly tight in the corners, so McMurray brought the car down pit road for four tires, fuel and some air pressure adjustments.
"This thing is way better than it was in practice yesterday," McMurray said during the caution period. "I think we're going to be pretty good today if we can get it loosened up some."
The over-the-wall crew performed the service and McMurray returned to the track in 20th, ready for the next green flag on lap 29.
Shortly after the restart McMurray called in that the car was a touch too loose on the gas, so everyone was optimistic that the changes had made the difference. About 20 laps later, however, the car became "super tight" according to McMurray and it would only get worse from there.
McMurray was able to maintain position in the top 25 throughout the next segment of the race, but some major adjustments were going to be needed in order for the No. 42 to challenge with the lead cars. The team never got the opportunity to see exactly how good the car could have been because they were making repairs and playing catch up for the remainder of the event after the contact on lap 125 with the No. 9.
The Home123/Texaco/Havoline crew did an excellent job of mending the fender once McMurray dove onto pit road for repairs and at times he was able to race up to as high as 18th. As the race pressed on though, their handy work, which consisted mainly of layers of bear bond (adhesive strips) began to peel off, forcing them to give up valuable track position and pit for lengthy repairs late in the race. McMurray was able to overcome being back in 30th with only 47 laps remaining, racing up to 22nd before the conclusion of the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
"The car was really tight all day and that allowed guys to get good runs on us exiting the corners. We adjusted on it early in the race and were definitely headed in the right direction with the changes. The contact with (Kasey) Kahne killed our momentum though and that basically did us in for the rest of the race.
"I'll tell you what though, there is no give up on this team. We fought the car all day long but the guys kept adjusting on it and giving me great pit stops each time we came down pit road. I'm really proud of how they pulled together today with all of the problems we had, and it's that kind of teamwork and determination that will get us in 'The Chase'."
The No. 42 team slipped one position to eighth in the overall championship standings. They are only 40 points out of fifth but 358 out of first heading into the next event at New Hampshire International Speedway on July 16.
McMurray's Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Casey Mears, David Stremme and Sterling Marlin finished ninth, 16th and 32nd respectively.
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