When Jamie McMurray moved to Roush Racing in the off-season, he knew it would be a challenging year.
Ten races in, McMurray is already on his second crew chief, yet he still has a positive outlook about his team and his chances of making the Chase for the Cup.
McMurray came to Baltimore this week to talk about his performance this season in the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, as well as promote the Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway the first weekend of June.
Coming to Roush Racing this season to take over for Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, McMurray and crew chief Jimmy Fennig struggled to find success. “Kurt and Jimmy had a little different way of going about setting their cars up,” McMurray said. “It was different than the other four [Roush] teams.”
Inconsistent results on the track led team owner Jack Roush to make a change three weeks ago, bringing in crew chief Bob Osborne from Carl Edwards? team to replace Fennig. Since the change, McMurray grabbed his first top-5 of the season, and has moved up three spots in the overall standings.
“Bob has been great for me. He has a little bit of a different approach,” McMurray said. “The biggest thing with Bob is that he is always positive.”
The change also has McMurray confident that he can still make the Chase for the Cup. “It is still very achievable; it?s all about being consistent,” McMurray said. And consistency is what the team is after right now.
“When people see a crew chief change, they immediately want to see results,” McMurray said. “It?s going to take a little bit of time.”
McMurray, along with the rest of the Nextel Cup series, will race in the Neighborhood Excellence 400 Presented by Bankof America at Dover International Speedway on June 4th.
THE MCMURRAY FILE
Hometown: Joplin, Missouri
Car: No. 26
Did you know? McMurray plans to continue his support for Autism Awareness with a special paint-scheme for the No. 26 car. “That is something that is so special to me, because of my niece, who has autism,” McMurray said. “When the families of autistic children come up to you and say ?thanks? ? there?s a feeling with that you can?t explain to someone.”
