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McMurray Makes Final Run in the No.26 Irwin Marathon Ford to Finish 19th at Phoenix International Raceway

Avondale, AZ (November 15, 2009) – Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway also marked the final time that McMurray would race his No. 26 IRWIN Ford for the year and because of that, it was a bittersweet weekend for the team.  Loose-handling conditions challenged the team throughout the course of the weekend’s practice sessions, and when Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 began, the in-race conditions of the car continued to be loose throughout the race.  Despite being trapped at the back of the pack early in the race, the No. 26 team used fast pit stops and pit strategy to help McMurray advance his way to a 19th-place finish Sunday afternoon.

Friday allowed McMurray and his team to unload and practice once before the afternoon’s qualifying session.  McMurray was 18th quick in practice, but qualified 30th for Sunday’s race due to the fact that the IRWIN Ford was loose and lacked grip in the turns.

Saturday’s two scheduled practice sessions were combined into one after a brief series of showers rained on the track.  The singular practice session allowed crew chief Donnie Wingo and his team the opportunity to try various set-ups for improved handling, and McMurray posted the eighth-fastest time in final practice.

The Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 took the green flag at 3:30 E.S.T under sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70’s.  McMurray rolled off from 30th but quickly found himself going backwards through the field as he kept getting stuck behind slower cars. 
During the opening laps of the race, McMurray radioed in to his team that the IRWIN MARATHON Ford was starting to get a bit loose in the turns as the race went on. 

Wingo called his driver to pit road on lap 69 for their first stop of the race as green flag pit stops cycled through the field.  McMurray received four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment before he rejoined the race.  The changes which had been aimed at tightening up the No. 26 machine only seemed to make the car loose in and off of the turns with an added tightness in the middle. 

Fortunately, the first caution of the day came on lap 116 for debris and allowed Wingo to change back the adjustments the IRWIN MARATHON pit crew had made earlier.  During the restart, several cars around McMurray tangled with each other as the field took the green and McMurray received some damage to the right side and nose of his Ford.  Wingo brought the No. 26 Ford down pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel while the team double-checked the damage.  Wingo and the team decided that no further repairs were necessary at the time, and McMurray restarted 29th on lap 128.

The field continued under green until another caution for debris came on lap 163.  Wingo and McMurray opted to stay out and participate in the wave around, which found the IRWIN Ford moving up five positions to 25th on the leader board.  The pit strategy move paid off eight laps later when a nine-car pile-up occurred coming off turn four.  McMurray restarted 18th on lap 179 and was able to maintain his position until the end of the 312-lap event to finish 19th.

“We had pit strategy play out in our favor today,” said McMurray after the race.  “Our IRWIN MARATHON Ford was pretty good, but we just seemed to be loose for the majority of the race and that made it tough for me to fight for position.  I’m really proud of the pit calls that Donnie (Wingo) made today and our team had some great stops on pit road that allowed us to gain positions.  We had a long afternoon, but we were able to turn around our day to finish 19th.”

Current points leader, Jimmie Johnson, won Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.  With his victory, he improved his lead over Mark Martin in the point standings to a 108 point margin going into next weekend’s final race of the season.  Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top three finishers Sunday afternoon, while McMurray was scored with a 19th-place finish in his No. 26 IRWIN MARATHON Ford.

Next weekend the Sprint Cup Series heads to South Florida for the Ford 400 and Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in celebration of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season finale.  Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, November 22nd at 2:30p.m. E.S.T. on ABC.  Radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network.

NEXT UP:
Ford 400
1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, FL
Sunday, November 22, 2009

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