Jamie McMurray

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = James Christopher McMurray


Birthdate = birth date and age|1976|6|3 | Birthplace = Joplin, Missouri
Awards = 2003 Rookie of the Year
Cup_Car_Team = 26 - Roush Fenway Racing
Previous_Year = 2006
Prev_Cup_Pos = 25th | Best_Cup_Pos = 11th - 2004
Cup_Wins = 2
Cup_Top_Tens = 63
Cup_Poles = 3
First_Cup_Race = 2002 EA Sports 500 (Talladega)
First_Cup_Win = 2002 UAW-GM Quality Part 500 (Charlotte)
Last_Cup_Win = 2007 Pepsi 400 (Daytona)
Busch_Car_Team = 26 - Roush Fenway Racing and
37 - Brewco Motorsports
Prev_Busch_Pos = 36th
Best_Busch_Pos = 6th - 2002
Busch_Wins = 7
Busch_Top_Tens = 52
Busch_Poles = 1
First_Busch_Race = 2000 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
First_Busch_Win = 2002 Aaron's 312 (Atlanta)
Last_Busch_Win = 2004 Bi-Lo 200 (Darlington)

Updated_On = October 29, 2007

James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976 in Joplin, Missouri) is a NASCAR race car driver. He currently drives the #26 Crown Royal / Irwin Industrial Tools Ford Fusion full-time in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.

NASCAR career

In 1999,McMurray made 4 starts in the Craftsman Truck series. In 2000, he ran 15 Craftsman Truck races and posted 1 top-five and 4 top-ten finishes.

In 2001 and 2002, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving the #27 Williams Travel Centers Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Brewco Motorsports. The latter year turned out better for McMurray, as he won two races and finished sixth in the overall points standings.

Before the fall race at Richmond in 2002, Chip Ganassi announced McMurray as the driver of a Texaco-Havoline sponsored Dodge in 2003. Those plans were accelerated when Sterling Marlin fractured a vertebra at the Winston Cup Race at Kansas Speedway. He made his Cup debut filling in for Marlin at Talladega and one week later in just his second career NASCAR Winston Cup start, Jamie McMurray outduelled Bobby Labonte to win the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC, setting the record for the fastest first time winner in NASCAR history. He was the last driver to win an NWCS race and not race the next week as Mike Bliss drove the #40 Coors Light Dodge at Martinsville Speedway while McMurray had a commitment to race NBS in Memphis.

In 2003, McMurray became a Winston Cup regular. He won the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Rookie of the Year competition by 37 points over Greg Biffle despite not winning a race (as Biffle, who won the Pepsi 400, had). McMurray had 5 top-5s for the year and finished 13th overall. He began competing part-time in the Busch Series.

In 2004, McMurray and his team were penalized 25 points after the Food City 500 for an incorrect "x-measurement," which proved costly when, later in the year, McMurray missed the Chase for the Cup by 15 points. However, he had 23 top-10s during the season, including 12 in the last 14 races, and finished 11th in the points standings, which earned him a $1 million bonus. Had he made the Chase for the Championship, he would have been 4th in points. He won a Craftsman Truck Series race, joining a short list of drivers that have won a race in all three of NASCAR's top touring series (Craftsman Truck, Busch, and NEXTEL Cup).

McMurray left the #42 team after the 2005 season to drive the #26 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Owner Chip Ganassi was initially adamant that McMurray would not be released for 2006. However, on November 7, 2005, McMurray was released from his contract. McMurray was originally supposed to go to the #6 Ford in 2007, but since Kurt Busch was released after an off-track incident, and Mark Martin announced he would race for another year, Jamie instead took over for Kurt Busch in the #97 Ford (which was renumbered #26). McMurray's contract with Roush Fenway Racing is one of the richest in NASCAR history with a guaranteed salary of $20 million dollars per year plus bonuses.

2006

In April 2006, Jack Roush moved Jimmy Fennig from crew chief of the #26 Ford to head Roush's Busch operations. Bob Osborne, who had been crew chief for Carl Edwards, moved to head the crew for McMurray. In 2006, he was an adviser for the drivers below 10th and trying to make the Chase For The Cup, since he had been in that position in the past two years. McMurray's best finish of the 2006 season came at Dover where he finished 2nd.

2007

) since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993.

In Popular Culture

* MTV Cribs
* The West Wing
* Biography Channel's NASCAR: Driven to Win
* Daytime TV's Passions
* .

Trivia

*Dated former Miss Winston model Cielo Garcia.

Races Won

print Cup (2 career wins)

*2002 - UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte)
*2007 - Pepsi 400 (Daytona)

Nationwide Series (7 career wins)

*2004 (3 wins) Goody's Headache Powder 200 (Rockingham), Bashas' Supermarkets 200 (Phoenix), Bi-Lo 200 (Darlington)
*2003 (2 wins) Rockingham 200 (Rockingham), Target House 200 (Rockingham)
*2002 (2 wins) Aaron's 312 (Atlanta), Sam's Club 200 (Rockingham)

:"*McMurray won the last four Busch Series races to be run at Rockingham."

Craftsman Truck Series (1 career win)

*2004 (1 win ) Kroger 200 (Martinsville)

External links

* [http://www.jamiemcmurray.com JamieMcMurray.com - Official Site]
* [http://www.jayski.com/teams/26.htm Jayski's #26 Team Page]
* [http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/jmcmurra00/cup/index.html Jamie's Driver Page on NASCAR.com]
* [http://www.cocacolaracingfamily.com/mcmurray.html Coca-Cola Racing Family's Jamie McMurray profile]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=mcmurja01 Driver's Stats at racing-reference.info]
* [http://www.afewmomentswith.com Jamie McMurray FOX News Radio Interview Podcast]