Team News

McMurray Over Comes On-Track Incidents for Top-15 Finish at Infineon

June 21, 2010

McMurray Over Comes On-Track Incidents for Top-15 Finish at Infineon

Results from Infineon Raceway
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet
2. Robby Gordon, No. 7 Toyota
3. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Chevrolet
10.   Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet
15.   Jamie McMurray, No.1 McDonald’s Chevrolet

SONOMA, Calif. (June 21, 2010) –  Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 McDonald’s Team traveled to the Napa Valley of Northern California and the Infineon Raceway this past weekend for the first road-course event on the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.  McMurray would face two on-track altercations in the early stages of the Toyota/SaveMart 350 but, would battle his way back for a 15th-place finish.

Coming to Infineon with a brand new chassis McMurray had high hopes for the 11-turn, 1.99-mile road course.  The No. 1 McDonald’s team would battle an ill-handling race car Friday afternoon during first practice and again had an early draw for qualifying.  McMurray would qualify in the 25th position. With two practice sessions scheduled for Saturday, Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion looked forward to finding more speed and making McMurray’s car handle better.  They did just that, and McMurray finished the practice sessions in ninth and second respectively.

The green flag dropped Sunday afternoon and McMurray was on the fast track forward.  After just 10 laps the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet had advanced five positions to 20th before an on-track incident in front of McMurray would cause the field to stack up, this included the No.18 who was running behind McMurray.  The No.18 didn’t see the field stacking up, and would run into the back of McMurray, knocking him off the racetrack.  McMurray would bring his Chevrolet down pit road for repair a lap early forcing a one-lap penalty, restarting in the 42nd-position.  When the 110-lap race restarted on lap 14 McMurray again had help from behind, when the No.12 seemed to hit McMurray for no particular reason, resulting in another spin.  McMurray was able to regroup under green-flag conditions and continue on-track without pitting or losing another lap.

As the afternoon progressed McMurray would battle loose conditions with the McDonald’s Chevrolet.  When the caution flew on lap 63 McMurray was in place to receive the “Lucky Dog” putting him back on the lead lap.  McMurray and team continued to make adjustments to accommodate the driver’s needs.  Once he had gained the “Lucky Dog” award, McMurray began making another run towards the front, taking his machine to the 15th position.  Due to the long green-flag run, Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion would call McMurray down pit road for a green-flag stop on lap 76, but trouble with a rear lugnut would cause the team to lose a number of spots on pit road.  McMurray wasn’t finished fighting though and with 16 laps to go, he lined-up in the 27th position looking to make another run through the field.  McMurray would advance his No.1 McDonald’s Chevrolet 12 positions in the closing laps to finish in the 15th-position.

“It was a long day for the No. 1 team, but at the end of the day we gained two positions in the points.  Gaining points each week is what we need to continue doing to put ourselves in a good place to make a run at the Chase, we aren’t out of it yet,” commented McMurray.  “After two spins in the opening laps that were out of our control it seemed like we were going to have another bad day but Bono and the guys never gave up and it worked out in our favor.”

The finish propelled McMurray two positions in the 2010 NSCS point’s standings, now sitting 16th and 142 points out of 12th- the cutoff to the Chase. 

Next weekend the No.1 Team will travel back to the East Coast for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  The LENOX Industrial Tools 301 is Sunday, June 27 with the green flag set to drop at 1pm ET on TNT and radio stations affiliated with PRN.