McMurray Finishes Sixth at Martinsville in His Crown Royal Ford, Claiming His Best Finish of the 2009 Season
October 25, 200910:53 PM
Martinsville, VA (October 25, 2009) – Jamie McMurray makes no secret of the fact that he enjoys racing at Martinsville Speedway. The narrow paper-clip-shaped track holds two Sprint Cup Series races each season and McMurray was eager to return after earning a top-10 finish earlier this year. The half-mile track always provides plenty of excitement for the fans as they watch drivers jockey for position within the narrow straightaways. McMurray and his Crown Royal team came to Martinsville looking to repeat and even improve upon the 10th-place finish they earned back in March, and despite a weekend with limited track time, they were able to achieve their best finish of the season with a sixth-place finish Sunday afternoon.
As has been the case numerous weekends this season, Mother Nature interfered with NASCAR’s schedule for Martinsville. It began on Friday as teams looked to have one practice session followed by qualifying. Despite a delay on Friday morning due to rain showers, officials were able to get the Sprint Cup series teams out for an hour to practice before qualifying began later that afternoon. During the session however, McMurray told his team that the car was alright, but just a bit too tight during his practice runs. Qualifying began at 3:40 p.m. EST and McMurray posted a fast lap time of 19.833 seconds and found himself starting from the 23rd position for Sunday’s race.
Saturday in the Martinsville area was filled with scattered showers that forced NASCAR officials to cancel both practices for the Cup series. Teams were forced to set-up their cars for Sunday’s race with only an hour’s worth of practice time under their belts, but McMurray and his team felt confident they would earn another solid finish Sunday.
Weather cooperated Sunday with mostly sunny skies overhead as the Tums Fast Relief 500 took the green flag at 1:48 p.m. EST. Within the opening laps, McMurray broke into the top twenty and never looked back. The first caution of the race came on lap eight and it allowed McMurray to call in over team radio to crew chief Donnie Wingo about the car’s handling. The Crown Royal Ford was just a “tick loose” according to McMurray, so Wingo opted to stay out instead of pitting that early in the race.
The field restarted and McMurray continued to focus on his rhythm as the field fought for track position at the very narrow track. Around lap 42, McMurray radioed in that the car was now a bit tight in the middle of the turns and a caution on lap 44, allowed Wingo to bring his driver down pit road for their first pit stop of the day. Two right-side tires, fuel, and an air pressure change were serviced to the Crown Royal Ford on lap 47 before McMurray restarted fourth thanks to the pit strategy. Others in the field opted for four fresh tires and were able to throttle past McMurray over the course of the next few runs.
The No. 26 Ford continued to be tight in the middle, and so during a pit stop under yellow on lap 132, Wingo called for a wedge adjustment to the left rear along with four tires and fuel. Air pressure adjustments and the wedge adjustment all seemed to help with the car’s handling and so Wingo decided to use a bit of pit strategy in order to get the Crown Royal Ford back up towards the front of the field. He opted to stay out instead of pitting during a series of three cautions in the middle of the race and that allowed McMurray to drive up into the top ten again.
Following a stop on lap 303 for four tires, McMurray radioed in that he was lacking grip and the car’s handling was getting looser as the run went on. The Crown Royal Ford dipped down to 17th before a caution broke and allowed the team to service the car with a new series of tires on lap 426. From that point on, McMurray focused on the remaining 75 laps as he drove up to seventh by lap 493. But with just a handful of laps scheduled to remain in the race, a caution on lap 496 set up a green-white-checkered finish that found the field taking the green flag with just two laps remaining.
McMurray restarted eighth and was able to claim two positions in the final two laps of the race before the checkered flag fell after lap 501. The Crown Royal Ford finished sixth and found McMurray claiming his best finish of the 2009 season thus far. The finish also allowed McMurray to jump up three spots in the driver point standings to 22nd.
“What a finish for our team,” said McMurray after the race. “We had such limited practice time this weekend that we weren’t sure what we had, but our car was pretty good today. We made really good pit calls and had great pit strategy today. Our car was better than average and our team just did a great job adjusting the car today as the race went on. I’m really proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish today.”
Virginia native, Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 and claimed his second career win at Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin claimed the lead with 138 laps left in the race and was able to hold off Jimmie Johnson to take home the win. Johnson finished second and with his performance Sunday, was able to increase his lead in the point standings to a total of 118 points over Mark Martin. Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five finishers Sunday afternoon. McMurray was the highest-finishing Ford and claimed his best finish of the 2009 season with his sixth-place finish Sunday in the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford.
Next weekend the Sprint Cup Series heads to Alabama for the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and the final superspeedway race of the 2009 season. Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, November 1st at 12:00p.m. E.S.T. on ABC. Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network.
NEXT UP:
Amp Energy 500
2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, AL
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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