Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Goody’s Cool Orange 500 - Jamie McMurray Notes

Jamie McMurray
Martinsville Speedway
.526-mile speedway located in Martinsville, Va.
NSCS: Sunday, March 30, 2008

FAST FACTS:

In 10 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville Speedway, Jamie McMurray has one top-five finish and six top-10 finishes.

Martinsville Speedway ranks as McMurray’s second best qualifying track with an average starting position of 13.4. Sonoma ranks as the best qualifying track for McMurray.

McMurray averages a 15.7 finishing position at Martinsville Speedway, his fifth best track on the circuit.

This weekend, McMurray will pilot the No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Fusion.

Jamie McMurray - NSCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Fusion Crew Chief: Larry Carter
Chassis: RK-572 Brand New Chassis
RK-507 Last outing: Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 2007, Finished 23rd

McMurray on racing at Martinsville Speedway:
"There are a lot of expectations for myself and the No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools team heading into Martinsville this weekend. We know we are outside the top 35 and right now, the only goal we have is to get ourselves back into the top 35. We’ve had a really rough start to the season, and honestly, it’s hard to pinpoint one exact reason – we’ve just had a lot of bad luck. We’ve spent a lot of time over the last week and a half looking at what we need to do avoid the bad luck that has followed us around since the start of the season.

“I’m really glad the next race is Martinsville. Last year, I qualified second in the spring race, and I think ninth in the second race. Martinsville is one of my favorite tracks, so to know that I have to qualify my way in, I’m glad that it’s at Martinsville.

“I know Larry (Carter) and all the guys have been working hard at the shop to ensure we have the best cars each weekend, and hopefully this weekend at Martinsville, we can qualify well, avoid the bad luck, run a good race, and let the points sort out themselves.”

Crew Chief Larry Carter on racing at Martinsville Speedway:
“All of the guys on the No. 26 team know and understand the position we are in going into Martinsville this weekend. First and foremost, we need to make sure that Jamie does well in qualifying on Friday. After that, we need to focus on running a clean race, and hopefully, move ourselves up in the points, so that next week we aren’t in the same position. After that, we’ll just continue working at it and with hard work and clean races, we’ll move ourselves back up in the point standings. It all starts with a good qualifying effort and a great race this weekend in our No. 26 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Fusion. Right now we’re just chopping one tree at a time, not the entire forest.”