McMurray’s new perspective on Chase

Veteran driver makes Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup championship for first time, looking for playoff-long consistency

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

TALLADEGA — Jamie McMurray has carved out a pretty nice career as a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, but his life will get a whole lot more interesting starting this weekend.

After years finding himself on the outside looking in and racing to be the best of the rest the last two and a half months of the season, McMurray is now chasing the championship for the first time.

He was at Talladega Superspeedway Tuesday promoting the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the Oct. 23-25 Alabama 500 weekend.

As part of the day’s promotional events, McMurray stood watch – in a Talladega apron to protect his McDonald’s racing suit – as a group of White Plains Middle School students brought in to meet the driver added a little color to an old Cup car that will go on display in the kids section of the track complex.

It was one of the cool things one of his idol’s told him to expect now that he’s a member of the club.

“I haven’t paid a tremendous amount of attention to what happens with the Chase drivers until now,” McMurray said. “One thing Jeff Gordon said to me when we were on the stage getting ready to go out and have our picture taken at Richmond, he congratulated and he said you’ll realize how big of a deal this really is over the next seven days by coming and doing this like this and all the attention that’s gonna happen before the race in Chicago and all through the Chase.”

It wasn’t a pressure-packed run that got him in the field, just a consistency he hopes he carries throughout the Chase. He was the 12th driver to lock down one of the 16 spots and all he needed to do was flip the ignition switch at Richmond to secure his position.

To celebrate the accomplishment, the team held a Chase breakfast back at the shop, where the crew was presented with Chase hats and hearty congratulations.

“It’s awesome,” he said of making the field. “You set this goal at the beginning of the season and we’re celebrating right now and you haven’t won a race; you’re just in the final chase of the championship.”

Staying in won’t be easy. It’s a 10-round shootout where the field gets pared every three races.

It’s a matter of staying in the hunt through these first three Challenger Round races and maybe when he comes to the Alabama 500 Oct. 25 – the “wildcard” race he’s won twice as a non-Chaser – he can put himself in a stronger position to win the championship.

“With Chip (Ganassi) winning the Indy Car championship earlier this year, we can be the first team to win both in one season, which is something that hasn’t been done before, so that’s our goal,” McMurray said.

“The first three races are about being consistent and not having a bad race,” he said. “We’re going to be three winners in that and the rest are going to have to make it in on points, so the guys who have one bad race will have to have a win to advance to the second round. The goal for us is to be consistent in all the races.”

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY WEEKEND

Oct. 23
Noon – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice
1 p.m. – NASCAR Sprint Cup practice
2 p.m. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice
3:30 p.m. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice
6:30 p.m. – Big One on the Blvd.

Oct. 24
9:30 a.m. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying
11:30 a.m. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver introductions
Noon – Fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (94 laps, 250 miles)
3:15 p.m. – NASCAR Spring Cup Series qualifying
7:30 p.m. – Saturday Night Infield Concert featuring Easton Corbin

Oct. 25
1 p.m. – NASCAR Spring Cup Series driver introductions
1:30 p.m. – Alabama 500 NASCAR Spring Cup Series race (188 laps, 500 miles)

Tickets: www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or 1-877-Go2-DEGA

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