BASS PRO SHOPS TEAM 17TH IN POCONO

17th-Place Finish for Bass Pro Shops Team in Rain-Shortened Pocono Race

LONG POND, Pa. (August 5, 2012) – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) teams would have to compete with “Mother Nature” on Sunday at the Pennsylvania 400 as weather pushed through the area, forcing  not only a delayed start to the race, but a rain-shortened finish after only 98 laps of the scheduled 160-lap event.  The Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet would be credited with a 17th-place finish when the rains came and halted the race.

The Bass Pro Shops team returned to the Pocono track for just the second time since the repave of the 2.5-mile facility.   Looking to follow up on the solid top-10 finish from the June race with the No. 1 team, McMurray felt he had a car that would be capable of duplicating that effort. 

From the delayed start of the race, all the teams knew that they would be racing against the clock to beat the weather forecast with approaching rains.  McMurray reported in the opening laps that his car was very loose.  Crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion would try to short-pit to make adjustments.  The strategy would put McMurray on a pit-cycle that would hopefully have the No.1 Chevrolet up front when the rains would eventually arrive.  Unfortunately, a caution on lap 92 would allow teams on the opposite pit-cycle the opportunity to stay on the track as the rains arrived that would put and early end to the race.  The Bass Pro Shops team would post a 17th-place finish.

“We struggled with a loose car today, but our Bass pro Shops crew did a great job of making adjustments and working on our strategy”, McMurray said following the race.  “If we just had a few more green flag laps and it would have started to cycle through it might have played more in our favor.”

Notes:
- McMurray is currently 19th in the NSCS point standings
- Sunday marked McMurray’s 20th start at Pocono Raceway

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to the road-course racing action at Watkins Glen for the Finger Lakes 355 on Sunday, August 12.  ESPN and MRN radio stations will have live coverage at 1:00 p.m. ET.