McMurray Takes Checkered Flag Sixth at Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. (Oct. 30, 2005)
--- Jamie McMurray and the Texaco/Havoline team turned in their second-consecutive top-10 performance with a sixth-place effort in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The last few weeks have been reminiscent of the team's impressive close to the 2004 season, where McMurray and crew where consistently competing in the top 10. They tallied up eight top-10 finishes in the final 10 events en route to finishing 11th in the standings and being awarded the $1 million bonus.
McMurray lined up 28th on the starting grid for Sunday's race. As usual, the No. 42 team spent a majority of the practice sessions leading up to qualifying focusing on the race setup, which ultimately paid off. It only took 43 laps for McMurray to move into 11th position on the track, so like many races, a top 10 qualifying effort wasn't a necessity.
The second of nine caution flags flew on lap 49 with McMurray running in 11th and chasing down 10th. Battling a slightly loose racecar on corner exit, McMurray entered pit road for four tires, fuel and a minor air pressure adjustment. There was a miscue during the stop, however, and McMurray was forced to pit again and take the next green flag on lap 54 in 27th. Luckily it was early in the event and McMurray had a fast racecar to overcome the adversity.
By lap 119 of the 325 lap event McMurray raced back into 11th, and after a quick pit stop by the over-the-wall crew during the fourth caution period on lap 121 he found himself sitting in the top-10 for the first time. McMurray continued to battle in the top-10 for the remainder of the event, only falling just outside of it during restarts. The No. 42 Dodge was very temperamental during the opening laps of a green flag run, but shortly thereafter would settle in and McMurray could really get after it. The car was primarily loose as the race pressed on, but extremely fast.
Fortunately for McMurray and crew the race ended with a rather lengthy run at speed. McMurray took the final green flag on lap 288 in 10th and by the time he took the checkered flag he had motored up to sixth place. More importantly he maintained 11th position in the overall standings with just three races remaining.
"That was a good run," said McMurray at the conclusion of the event. "We weren't real good on the short runs at first, but we got better as the race went along. We kept adjusting on it and the changes we were making seemed to help. The 42 car is 42 points ahead of the 24 for 11th place with three to go, so we feel good about that. That's another top 10, but we'd really like to win one of these last three."
The Texaco/Havoline team has a 42 point advantage over 12th place in the standings heading into the next event at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 11, where they finished second earlier this season. McMurray's Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Sterlin Marlin, Casey Mears and Reed Sorenson, making his NEXTEL Cup debut, finished 20th, 21st and 41st respectively.
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