McMurray carving out reputation as big-race driver to beat
By Pete Pistone | Special to CBSSports.com Follow PeteINDIANAPOLIS -- At this time last year Jamie McMurray's Sprint Cup career appeared bankrupt.
Today he is NASCAR's moneyman.
The veteran driver from Joplin, Mo., has not only rescued himself from the stock car scrap heap but also established himself as the driver to beat when the big events are on the line.
He started the year by shocking the racing world with a Daytona 500 victory and backed that up with a Brickyard 400 victory on Sunday. Not bad for a guy who last summer was wondering if he would be in the Sprint Cup Series at all in 2010.
"I think it's just a situation where you got to get the guys in the right position with the right crew chief and the right team and the right owner," McMurray said of his landing with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. "I'll tell you something that [team owner] Chip [Ganassi] said to me right before I got in the car. He said, 'Let's go out and do this thing.' I said, 'I'll give you everything I got.' He said, 'I know, that's why I hired you. I believe in you. You go out and do your best, that will be enough.' "
Since Ganassi reunited with McMurray, it has been more than enough with the two teaming up to win the two biggest NASCAR races of the year.
But McMurray isn't surprised at the success, feeling all along -- even through the down times when his future was very much unclear after Jack Roush released him last season -- he still had the talent to compete at NASCAR's top level.
All he needed was a team owner who believed that as well.
"I think every driver is different, but for me that's what drives me, is having somebody behind you," McMurray said. "I think it's been really good for both Chip and I to experience all of this together because we were together when things weren't great and we kind of built this together along with the 1 team to where it is."
Listen to race winner Jamie McMurray's post-race news conference (34 minutes)
Sunday, the No. 1 team was in Victory Lane -- again.
Speed sounds
"What do I say to Juan and [crew chief] Brian [Pattie]? They should have taken two." -- Chip Ganassi
"We've just got to take some chances to win some of these races, I guess." -- Greg Biffle
"I didn't even think about two tires. I can't believe they did that and made it work." -- Carl Edwards
"The finish is a bitch, but what are you going to do?" -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his 27th-place finish.
Fast five
Yes, I saw the empty seats on Sunday. When there are about 300,000 of them you're bound to have a few unoccupied. There has been much written and discussed about the fact that the first Brickyard 400 in 1994 drew 270,000 and this year's 17th edition was in the 125k territory. That's a major dropoff but one that has myriad of reasons for happening, not the least being the economy. There are an estimated 2.5 million people out of work in the Indiana, Michigan and Illinois area. That wasn't the case 17 years ago when NASCAR coming to the Brickyard was an innovative and brand new idea. In today's world a more realistic number might be what we saw on Sunday, a crowd any professional or collegiate sports league would no doubt kill to draw.
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As is usually the case, Sunday's Brickyard was long on dramatic events and short on side-by-side racing. The big and heavy stock cars have a hard time racing next to each other and those who wanted to see the "Rubbin' is Racin' " style of NASCAR this season has been known for were no doubt disappointed. But the storylines kept coming and the drama rose as the laps wound down to make this year's annual summer trip to Indy memorable in my mind.
Richard Childress Racing has a remarkable record at Indianapolis and the team's prowess was again on display Sunday. Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton put all three of the stable's cars in the top 10 -- an even more amazing feat when you think about the desperate straights this organization was in at this time last season. Hendrick and Gibbs get most of the press but those who doubt RCR's ability to win a championship in 2010 are making a mistake.
It was a rough day for the three former Indy 500 drivers in the Brickyard field. Juan Pablo Montoya suffered heartbreak for a second successive year while Sam Hornish Jr. was swept up in the day's first lap crash and Jacques Villenueve basically made laps all afternoon. As has been proven time and again, only the rarest of drivers can make the successful transition from open wheel driver to a competitive Sprint Cup Series pilot.
Maybe the best racing of the Indy visit took place about five miles east of Indianapolis Motor Speedway at O'Reilly Raceway Park, a .626-mile track that annually hosts NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series every Brickyard weekend. While Ron Hornaday made off easily with Friday's truck victory, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards put on a thrilling side-by-side battle for the crown in Saturday's Nationwide event. Busch got the victory and unlike last week's Gateway demolition derby both drivers raced hard without emotions getting the better of either. Empty seats were not an issue either; sold-out crowds jammed the short track both nights.
Charging ahead
Kevin Harvick: Came within a spot of a second Brickyard 400 win and continued his amazing renaissance with Richard Childress Racing. Harvick still sits on top of the Cup standings and is on the verge of landing Budweiser as a full-time sponsor in 2011. Life is indeed good for "Happy" Harvick.
Greg Biffle: Maybe Ford and Roush Fenway Racing have turned the corner as Biffle was a solid force for the entire 400 miles on Sunday afternoon and the first of two RFR cars in the top 10 (Carl Edwards seventh).
Kyle Busch: Was involved in the first lap melee that wadded up seven cars but was able to rebound for a somewhat amazing top 10 finish. A second-place truck series run and a win in the Nationwide Series added up to a pretty sweet Indy weekend for Busch.
Downshifting
Juan Pablo Montoya: The snake bitten driver endured another year of Brickyard heartbreak when a call for four tires rather than two shuffled him out of the lead and eventually led to an accident with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Montoya has led 200 laps in the past two Brickyards with nothing to show for it.
Jimmie Johnson: Double J was shooting for a third consecutive Brickyard title and in the hunt until late-race mechanical issues took him from contention. Johnson finished an uncharacteristic 22nd.
David Reutimann: Just to show you how fickle Sprint Cup racing can be, Reutimann was knocked out of contention on Lap 1 on Sunday as his follow-up performance to winning the series' previous race at Chicagoland.
Sneak peek
Do not adjust your glasses. Yes, the Sprint Cup Series is racing at Pocono Raceway again next Sunday even though the circuit visited the 2.5-mile triangle only eight weeks ago. The Pennsylvania 500 on Sunday will be the 21st race of the season.
