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Jamie McMurray

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Jamie McMurray
Awards2003 Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
Car no., team26 - Roush Fenway Racing
2006 position25th
Best finish11th - 2004
First race2002 EA Sports 500 (Talladega)
First win2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series UAW-GM Quality Part 500 (Concord)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 62 3
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Car no., team26 - Roush Fenway Racing and
37 - Brewco Motorsports
2006 position36th
Best finish6th - 2002
First race2000 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
First win2002 Aaron's 312 (Atlanta)
Last win2004 Bi-Lo 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
7 48 1

James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray (born June 3, 1976 in Joplin, Missouri) is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #26 Crown Royal Irwin Industrial Tools Ford Fusion full-time in the NEXTEL Cup Series with crew chief Larry Carter for Roush Fenway Racing.

His teammates are David Ragan (#6 AAA), Greg Biffle (#16 Ameriquest), Matt Kenseth (#17 DeWalt) and Carl Edwards (#99 Office Depot). He began competing in the Busch Series full-time in 2001 and in the NEXTEL Cup Series full-time in 2003.

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.

In 2002, in just his second career NASCAR Winston Cup start, Jamie McMurray won 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.

In 2003, McMurray became a NEXTEL Cup regular. He won the NASCAR Winston Cup (now NEXTEL Cup) Rookie of the Year competition by 37 points over Greg Biffle. 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 Champion. 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 of 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

Jamie began the 2007 season with crew chief Larry Carter, formerly from MWR, sponsored by Crown Royal and IRWIN Tools. On June 22, 2007 he won his 3rd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Pole, for the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350. On July 7th, he won the Pepsi 400 by .005 of a second over Kyle Busch. The photo finish was the closest in Daytona track history and the 2nd closest finish since the advent of electronic scoring.

Trivia

McMurray has appeared on MTV's Cribs, The West Wing, and The Biography Channel's NASCAR: Driven to Win.

Races Won

Winston/NEXTEL Cup (2 career wins)

Busch Series (7 career wins)

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

Craftsman Truck Series (1 career win )

Preceded by NASCAR Rookie of the year
2003 		Succeeded by
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