Team News

Promising Day At Dover Ended by Mechanical Failure For McMurray and No.1 Team

May 17, 2010

 

Dover, Del. (May 17, 2010) – Jamie McMurray and the No.1 Team looked to continue on the building momentum that they carried to Dover International Speedway from second-place finishes at both Talladega and Darlington.  The team, which ran inside the top 10 for nearly the entire first-half of Sunday’s 400-lap event at the track known as “The Monster Mile” experienced mechanical failure on lap 256 when a track-bar mount broke.  The team quickly went to work in the garage, but would lose a number of laps while working to fix the problem.  McMurray would come out of the garage in the 32nd position and hold onto this spot for the remainder of the race. 

McMurray started the Autism Speaks 400 presented by HERSHEY®’S Milk & Milkshakes from the 11th position. Within a few laps of green flag action, he had fought his way to the 10th position.  The No. 1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet hovered right around the tenth position until the first caution flag waved on lap 52.  McMurray reported that he was “too loose,” so Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion would call for four tires with a slight air pressure adjustment to the right rear tire.  McMurray would take the green flag again on lap 58 and during this run he would really show the potential of his Chevrolet.  During the green flag run that lasted from lap 58 to 134, McMurray would race his way to the third position.  At this point in the race he was the fastest car on the track and was on-track to fight for the lead.  However, his handling problems would continue as the driver continued to report extremely “loose” conditions on the race track.  By lap 205, the “loose” conditions were causing McMurray to drop, falling out of the top 10.   When the green flag dropped again on lap 250, McMurray restarted in the 14th position and quickly jumped up to the 11th position. 

On lap 254, things started getting interesting as teammate Juan Pablo Montoya pulled his No. 42 machine into the garage for a broken track bar mount. Nearly two laps later, on lap 256, McMurray would suffer the exact same fate. The crew worked to repair the damage and sent McMurray back out on the track. The damage to their day was done, and the team worked to finish as many laps as possible.  Bring their No.1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet home in the 32nd position.

“We had a part fail on the car, a track bar mount broke. It is kind of weird; it broke on Juan’s car two laps earlier. You just build these cars as light as you can; I think we might have pushed the limit on lightening that piece. I had a really good car. One of those runs, I thought we were the best car. I think that piece has been breaking for a while because the car kept getting looser and looser and eventually it broke. It was unfortunate; we had another solid run going.”

The All-Star Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is next up on the schedule. Jamie McMurray and the No.1 Team is secured in the field while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya must race his way in or win the All-Star fan vote to participate in the non-points race. Drivers have an opportunity to compete for a $1 million prize. The Showdown race and All-Star race will air live on SPEED this Saturday, May 22nd starting at 7:30 pm (ET).