Jamie McMurray didn’t exactly have a stellar freshman season at Roush Racing.
After leaving Chip Ganassi and signing with Roush in 2006, McMurray had what can best be described as a miserable season. But McMurray begins 2007 with a renewed optimism after a wholesale slew of changes during the off-season.
“We’ve changed so much,” McMurray said Wednesday morning at Daytona International Speedway. “We’ve got a new crew chief, new car chief, new engineer, new tire guy, new guys at the shop. All of the cars are gonna be brand new. We pretty much have already changed everything.”
After scoring a victory in only his second Nextel Cup start in 2002, McMurray has watched his fortunes tumble over the last few seasons, the low perhaps came last year when he scored only three top five finishes and seven top ten finishes the entire season.
“The deal with last year, I would tell myself after I’d go home after a race and say, ‘I don’t think it can get any worse,’ and then I’d show up the next week and I’d be like, ‘Wow, I was wrong,’” McMurray said.
McMurray also had five DNFs last year, all coming in the last ten races of the season.
“The last 10 races, I don’t know how many we finished, but I think we didn’t finish more than we did finish,” McMurray said. “So when you don’t run well and then you can’t even finish it’s so frustrating and you’re so mentally beat up that I think when you get to that point that you just want it to be over.”
As McMurray has rebuilt his team, he’s also had to rebuild his own confidence as well.
“Everyone always joked around about how I always smiled and laughed, but you’re right, at the end of the year I would divert myself to the front of the hauler so I didn’t have to walk behind with everybody,” McMurray said. “I was scared of the questions that were gonna be asked or people would ask the same question about what’s wrong. If I knew what was wrong, I would have went and tried to fix it.
“I don’t deal with that very well and I know that,” he added. “So I’m gonna go back and try to get to where I can think positive again and be happy.”
He took a big step in that direction Tuesday by posting the fastest lap in the morning session of testing at Daytona.
“I tell you, it will make you happy as hell just to run well,” McMurray said. “If you run well, it seems like that goes away, but when you don’t, it certainly drives you crazy.”
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BRISTOL, Tenn. - Jamie McMurray must have been facing a lot of pressure at Roush Fenway Racing this season, but a recent rally has the team breathing a sigh of relief.
The rally continued this weekend as McMurray finished a season-best ninth in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After an opening pair of finishes outside the top 30, McMurray finished 10th and 15th in the pair of races leading up to Bristol. At Bristol, site of the debut of NASCAR's new car of tomorrow, McMurray built on that and has climbed to 18th in points.
"Every week this year we've had a good car," he said. "We just got in those two accidents in the beginning."
And then they started to improve. As he left Bristol after a strong performance in NASCAR's new model - a car that he'll race again in next Sunday's event at Martinsville Speedway - McMurray couldn't help but smile.
"It feels so good walking out here and looking up at the scoreboard," McMurray said. "You've got to take baby steps to get better, and every week we seem to get better.
"We qualified well this week. The car of tomorrow is kind of promising going to Martinsville, so we've got a few things to work on, but I still feel good about it right now."
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April 19, 2007
1:09 am EDT
By Jerry Bonkowski
Yahoo! Sports
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jamie McMurray was fast here at Phoenix on Thursday – which is beginning to come as no surprise.
That wasn't the case in 2006.
There's no question Jamie McMurray was the picture of consistency last season. Consistently bad, that is.
Having negotiated himself out of a contract with Chip Ganassi Racing so he could move on to Roush Racing, McMurray had high hopes for success with his new team.
Instead, the bottom dropped out.
"Last year, I kept saying, 'It can't get any worse.' And I'd show up the next week and would say, 'Wow, I was wrong,'" McMurray said.
The Missouri native struggled worse than he ever had before in his Cup career, finishing a dismal 25th in the standings. Instead of coming to Roush and being reborn, many wondered if he had made a huge mistake leaving CGR.
"It just seemed like everything would go wrong," McMurray said. "Roush-Yates engines are super reliable, but it seemed we'd end up with the one that would break. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong.
"It was the worst year of my Cup career and very frustrating."
The more he spiraled downward, the more helpless McMurray began to feel. But instead of dwelling on the things he couldn't change, the Missouri native began to work on those things he could.
During the offseason, he went on a radical diet and workout program that buffed him up, putting him more in line shape-wise with Roush teammate Carl Edwards, and also helping him achieve a more positive outlook.
"Over the winter, I worked on the mental side of being prepared," he said. "It's easy whenever things go well to have a good attitude and to always be positive. It's when you go through like what I went through last year, that's when it's tough."
The routine did wonders for McMurray's energy, stamina and performance – and that was just outside the race car.
But the biggest change of 2007 has not been in McMurray's body, it's been in his foot. He has quietly and effortlessly become one of the hottest drivers on the Nextel Cup circuit over the first seven races, showing that this is most certainly as big a comeback season for him as last year was a disappointment.
Heading into Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix, McMurray not only is ranked 10th in the Cup standings, but he'll also start the race on the outside pole alongside Jeff Gordon, marking the second time in three races that McMurray has earned a berth on the front row.
But the season actually didn't start off all that well, as McMurray wrecked out at Daytona (finished 31st) and suffered through mechanical issues the following week at California (finished 37th).
He had hit rock bottom – again – and the only way was up.
"I sat on the pit box at Fontana and there was nothing I could do different, so [he told himself and his crew members] don't get down," McMurray said. "I walked up to all my guys and said, 'This has got to end soon. It can't continue to go on like this.'"
And finally, just like that, the one-plus season of frustration and terrible performance had come to a merciful end.
In the last five races, McMurray has one top-five (last Sunday at Texas) and three other top-10s, and the worst he's finished in that stretch is a not-too-bad 15th-place outing (Atlanta).
While he gives the majority of the credit for the turnaround of the No. 26 Ford to new crew chief Larry Carter, one cannot downplay the role McMurray has played in the team's recent run, what with his new attitude, new motivation and reenergized desire to finally become the successful young driver many envisioned he'd be when he came to the Cup level in 2003.
And at the pace McMurray is going, he's only going to get better. Even though he's never finished higher than 12th in seven prior starts at PIR, don't be surprised if McMurray winds up being the surprise story at Phoenix this weekend. He took the first step toward that with his outstanding qualifying run Thursday.
One year ago, many were wondering what was wrong with the youthful-looking McMurray (who turns 31 in early June). Today, as the rock group The Who might say, "The Kid's Alright."
Alright indeed.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist. Send Jerry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Jamie McMurray jumped back onto the radar this week when NASCAR fined him $25,000 for bumping and banging with Kevin Harvick at Talladega.
It was long overdue, and for all the wrong reasons.
After a disastrous 2006 season that had many people labeling McMurray a major bust, his career appears to be back on track. He has five top-10 finishes and is seventh in the points heading into Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway.
"It's like night and day from last year, 100 percent better,'' McMurray said. "And if you knew why it was this way, and why everything is working, then you'd never have any problems and everything would always be perfect.''
McMurray thought everything would be perfect when he moved to Roush Fenway Racing at the start of last season. He fought hard to get into the ride, negotiating an early release from his existing contract with car owner Chip Ganassi, and expected to instantly become a championship contender.
But it never happened and McMurray struggled to fit into the organization. He inherited 2004 champion Kurt Busch's crew and equipment, but lacked chemistry with crew chief Jimmy Fennig and struggled to drive the cars.
Jack Roush made an early crew chief switch, to no avail. Things never improved and McMurray asked Roush for another crew chief change for the final 10 weeks.
"I joked around and said it can't get worse, and then you would show up the next week and it would be worse,'' McMurray said. "I would lay in bed at night, stressed out, because I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to make it better. You literally feel like you have to learn how to drive again.''
Because McMurray had run through three crew chiefs in one season, Roush decided to let McMurray handpick who he wanted to run his team this year.
McMurray definitely did his homework, making a list of every crew chief from all three of NASCAR's top series. He got referrals and cross-referenced, constantly looking for the perfect fit.
Turned out the one name missing from his list -- Larry Carter -- was the answer.
Because Carter was working behind the scenes at Michael Waltrip Racing, McMurray overlooked him and didn't have him under initial consideration. By the time his name crossed McMurray's radar in December, McMurray had a tough sell to make and only a little bit of time to do it.
"I told him, `This isn't going to be easy, you are going to have to come into a team that is down and struggling and it's going to be a lot of work. This is not going to be fun for a while,''' McMurray remembered. "But he verbally committed and then we had contract issues to work through, but he came on board and it's just clicked.''
In allowing McMurray to handpick Carter, Roush believes his driver feels a certain responsibility to make it work.
"This is an example of how important chemistry is between a crew chief and a driver, and certainly Jamie feels a responsibility for the decisions that have been made,'' Roush said. "He's got a real commitment and dedication to making his team as strong as he possibly can.''
McMurray also has taken steps off the track, from hiring a personal trainer that created a daily regimen he follows to a sports physiologist that has helped rebuild his confidence.
"He expected to step into Kurt Busch's program and take off, and when it didn't happen, it certainly hurt his confidence,'' Roush said. "But he's gotten some counseling, not for mental derangement, but on how to make the best of his opportunities and have the best approach toward the challenges that are out there and face them with the greatest confidence and the greatest poise.
"He's done a good job.''
The timing couldn't have been better for McMurray and his primary sponsor, either. Crown Royal bought the naming rights to Saturday night's race, but then gave the title away in a contest to one lucky fan.
So McMurray, whose only career victory was in 2002, will try to end a 158-race drought in the Jim Stewart 400 -- named for a Louisiana race fan who won the naming rights contest.
He'll also try to win back some of the money he lost this week when NASCAR fined McMurray and Harvick $25,000 each for bumping under caution at Talladega last Sunday. McMurray insists he was confused when Harvick bumped him under the flag, and was simply trying to drive his car in front of Harvick's when NASCAR decided the two were being too aggressive.
He blamed the incident on Harvick's temper, but wasn't pleased with the penalty.
"I just kind of agree to accept that,'' he said.
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CONCORD, N.C. (October 31, 2007) - As the old saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas. The saying certainly holds true for Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray this weekend as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Fort Worth, Texas for the Dickies 500 race weekend. This weekend, McMurray will sport a brand new paint scheme on the No. 26 Ford Fusion, donate $5,000 to a local autistic charity and be a special guest on SPEED Channel's "Trackside Live" show.
The No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion will have a special look this weekend. This will be the first time the "Special Reserve" paint scheme has donned the side of the No. 26 Ford Fusion.
Along with a special paint scheme this weekend, the Jamie McMurray Foundation will be making a $5,000 donation to the Gladys Golman/Faye Dallen Education Fund (GGFDEF) on Friday morning at the No. 26 hauler.
Louis and Robin Zweig, co-founders of the GGFDEF, started the education fund in September 2007 with the vision to provide educational resources for Dallas-area religious-school teachers so that they, and their students with learning differences, could fulfill their educational responsibilities and needs. The fund finances educational seminars and training days, and focuses on helping teachers and religious-school leaders develop classroom strategies for learning differences such as autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and other neurological disorders.
"When we discovered that we had a huge need in the community for religious-school teachers to be trained and educated for children with learning differences I knew we had to do something that the entire city could benefit from," said Louis Zweig, co-founder of the GGFDEF.
Within the strategic objectives of the program, every teacher in Dallas area religious-schools would complete six hours of training focused on learning differences of all kinds. Advisory board members are committed to increasing awareness of this acute need for children in the Dallas community, and to ensuring that every child gets a quality education.
"We created the Jamie McMurray Foundation almost two years ago for this exact reason - to provide assistance to autism awareness and research," McMurray said. "Autism presents so many challenges, especially to educators and others in the classroom. I'm glad the Jamie McMurray Foundation could be a part of this contribution in improving the education system in place for children with this challenging disorder."
After a busy day on Friday with the check presentation, practice and qualifying the No. 26 Crown Royal Special Reserve Ford Fusion, McMurray will recap the entire day on SPEED Channel's "Trackside Live" show, live from Texas Motor Speedway. The show will air at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on SPEED Channel.
"This is a really big weekend for Crown Royal, the Jamie McMurray Foundation and all of the guys on the No. 26 team. I know myself and all the guys on this team are looking forward to having a good run at Texas. We've had some great cars ever since Richmond, and hopefully, this will be the weekend we can showcase how good this No. 26 Crown Royal team really is," said McMurray.
About Diageo
Crown Royal is proudly owned by Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O), the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines, and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines.
Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 200 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.
Celebrating life, every day, everywhere, responsibly.
About Jamie McMurray Foundation
The Jamie McMurray Foundation ("JMF", formed in May 2006, will promote awareness of, and raise funding for, research, education, and support for individuals and families afflicted with autism. The JMF is dedicated to bringing the financial backing and support of the NASCAR community, together with the passion and commitment of the autism community, to promote better understanding of this challenging disability.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR's largest team operating 14 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O'Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto Roush Fenway Racing Homepage. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
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Mcmurray Looks To Rebound In 2007
I have faith in my #26 team 
McMurray feeling good about Martinsville
McMurray's career back on track
, formed in May 2006, will promote awareness of, and raise funding for, research, education, and support for individuals and families afflicted with autism. The JMF is dedicated to bringing the financial backing and support of the NASCAR community, together with the passion and commitment of the autism community, to promote better understanding of this challenging disability. 
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