May 24, 2008
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600
May 10, 2008
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dodge Challenger 500
September 1, 2007
James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976 in
Joplin, Missouri) is a NASCAR race car driver. He
currently drives the #26 Crown Royal / Irwin
Industrial Tools Ford Fusion full-time in the Sprint
Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.
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.
Before the fall race at Richmond in 2002, Chip
Ganassi announced McMurray as the driver of a
Texaco-Havoline sponsored Dodge in 2003. Those plans
were accelerated when Sterling Marlin fractured a
vertebra at the NEXTEL Cup Race at Kansas Speedway.
He made his Cup debut filling in for Marlin at
Talladega and one week later in just his second
career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start, Jamie McMurray
outduelled Bobby Labonte to win 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. He was the last driver to win an
NNCS race and not race the next week as Mike Bliss
drove the #40 Coors Light Dodge at Martinsville
Speedway while McMurray had a commitment to race NBS
in Memphis.
In 2003, McMurray became a NEXTEL Cup regular. He
won the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint 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 4th in points.
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.
