Jamie McMurray
Phoenix International Raceway
One-mile track located in Avondale, Ariz.
NNCS: Subway Fresh Fit 500; Saturday, April 21, 2007
FAST FACTS
Over the last five races, Jamie McMurray has moved up 26 positions to 10th place in the NEXTEL Cup point standings.
Top-10 – The last time McMurray was listed in the top 10 in the point standings was following the 2005 fall race at California Speedway – 54 races ago.
Elusive Finish? Phoenix International Raceway is the only track where McMurray has yet to post a top-10 finish. His best finish came in November of 2003 when he finished 12th at the one-mile speedway.
McMurray posted his first top-five finish of the 2007 season last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. McMurray has currently posted five top-15 finishes in a row, with four of those being top-10 runs.
The Crown Royal team will unload chassis RK-456 as the primary for this weekend’s race in Phoenix. This is the same chassis that posted a ninth-place finish in Bristol earlier this season.
In six visits to the 1.5-mile Phoenix International Raceway, McMurray has posted three top-10 finishes. The best finish came in April 2005, where McMurray finished second.
In his last four runs, McMurray has posted four top-15 finishes in a row. Three of those finishes resulted in top-10’s for the No. 26 team.
Jamie McMurray - NNCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Larry Carter
Chassis: RK – 456 Last run at Bristol – March ‘07; finished ninth.
Backup – RK – 415 – Tested at Richmond – April ‘07
McMurray on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:
“These last five races have been great for the Crown Royal team. This team has been working hard back at the shop to build these cars and the payout is showing on the track. The cars have been really fast and the guys in the pits have made sure that we don’t lose any track position and lately we have been gaining spots during our stops which is always what you hope for. Larry (Carter) has brought so much to this team in such a short period of time. I look forward to Phoenix each time we travel out there, although my track record doesn’t show that. The last time we were there, we qualified well and started out really good, but we were wrecked pretty badly near the end of the race. Hopefully that won’t happen this weekend and we can have another solid run in our Crown Royal Ford Fusion.
“We are making another run this weekend with the ‘Car of Tomorrow’ which is going to be interesting to see. We’ve had a tough time getting these cars to turn, but hopefully, we can find the right balance in Phoenix and make the car work for us.”
Crew Chief Larry Carter on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:
“It’s going to be pretty interesting when we get to Phoenix. This is only our third ‘Car of Tomorrow’ race and our first race on a track larger than a half mile. We struggled a bit in Richmond while we were there testing, so going to Phoenix is going to provide a new set of challenges and not just for us, but for most of the teams in the garage. I’m concerned how these cars are going to unload off the truck and how they're going to react to the track in the first few runs. This No. 26 team has done such a good job in getting the new cars ready to race and this weekend shouldn’t be any different for us. We will have to overcome some new challenges, but I think we are up to the task.”
