Jamie McMurray
California Speedway
Two-mile speedway located in Fontana, Calif.
NNCS: Sharp AQUOS 500; Sunday, September 2, 2007
FAST FACTS:
Statistically speaking, California Speedway is Jamie McMurray’s best track on the NEXTEL Cup circuit.
In eight career NEXTEL Cup starts at the two-mile speedway, McMurray has five top-10 finishes, including three top-five finishes.
McMurray has a career starting position average of 25.8 and an average finishing position of 12.4 at California Speedway.
McMurray will run the No. 26 Sharp AQUOS/3M Vikuiti paint scheme for the second time this season. His first start in the Sharp AQUOS / 3M Vikuiti Ford Fusion yielded a top-five finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
This weekend, McMurray will be making his 175th career start in the NEXTEL Cup Series.
Jamie McMurray - NNCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 26 Sharp AQUOS/3M Vikuiti Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Larry Carter
Chassis: RK – 393 Last run at Indy – July ‘07; finished 33rd
Backup – RK – 403 – Tested at Vegas – Jan. ‘07
McMurray on racing at California Speedway:
“I really hope this weekend in Fontana goes better than the last few weeks have gone for the No. 26 team. We have either fought the car or been caught up in wrecks. It just seems like we can’t catch a break. It’s really tough because I know that we have good cars, we just haven’t had the finishes to back up our cars. This weekend, we are taking the same car that we ran well with in Indy; up until we were caught in that wreck. California Speedway is statistically my best track on the circuit and I don’t really know why. I enjoy the track, and the racing there has gotten better each time we visit the speedway.
“You know, I’d like to think we will have a good run this weekend based on statistics, but you can’t go off of those alone. I thought we had a really good car in the spring; it didn’t qualify really well, but when we put it in race trim, it was fast. Early into the race, we were moving through the field, but were caught up in an early wreck. We returned to the track, but it didn’t really help salvage the day.
“Hopefully this weekend, we can turn our luck around and put up another good finish for the Sharp and 3M guys. The last time we ran this paint scheme, I finished in the top five, so we’ll see what happens.”
Crew Chief Larry Carter on racing at California Speedway:
“This weekend we are returning to Fontana with the same car that we ran in Indy. We hung a brand new body on it before Indy and were really impressed with the way it ran. It was built as a flat track car, but we think it will run pretty well this weekend in Fontana. California Speedway is a track similar to Michigan, where Roush Fenway has seen a lot of success in the past. With Kenseth’s win in Fontana earlier this season, we should be able to use a lot of the same notes and setup as those guys. I know all the guys on the No. 26 team are hungry for a strong run and hopefully this will be the weekend we can turn it around.”
