MCDONALD'S TEAM FINISHES 17TH AT MARTINSVILLE

Results (starting pos.) from the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway
1.    (1) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet
17.  (24) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet
20.  (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet

McDonald’s Team Finishes 17th At Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 28, 2012) – The seventh race of the 2012 Chase to the NASCAR Sprint Cup was at Martinsville Speedway in Southern Virginia, the only short-track race in the Chase.  The half-mile paperclip-shaped oval has a reputation for tough side-by-side racing action, and the race lived up to its billing as fans saw 22 lead changes among 9 different drivers, and 11 cautions for 64  laps. The McDonald’s Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray survived the action with a lead-lap, 17th-place finish.

Crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion had a brand new chassis built for Martinsville.  Following a 24th-place qualifying effort, the team still felt that they would be very competitive in race conditions on Sunday from what they saw in the two final practice sessions Saturday afternoon. 

The new chassis would show strength from the drop of the green flag as McMurray was able move toward the front of the field, advancing as high as fifth-position before the halfway mark of the 500-lap race.  After getting off pit sequence with the leaders in the middle stages of the race, the McDonald’s team would overcome a one-lap deficit and battle back to a 17th-place finish.

McMurray commented following the event.  “We brought a brand new car here and I would say overall, that we had a really good McDonald’s Chevy.  We had that one long green-flag run in the middle part of the race and ended up losing a lap.  Our guys never quit and we managed to get back on the lead lap and work for that 17th-place finish”

Notes:
• In 20 career starts at Martinsville Speedway, Jamie McMurray has one top-five and 10 top-10 finishes
• McMurray has a total of 60 short-track races to his credit, where he has finished in the top-five 4 times and top-10 on 21 occasions with an average finish of 19.1
• McMurray remains 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will return to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend for the AAA Texas 500.  The race will air live on ESPN and radio stations affiliated with PRN on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 3:00 p.m. EDT.