Ganassi, McMurray confident for 2003

CONCORD, N.C. -- Ever the innovator, Chip Ganassi doesn't employ conventional methods in much of anything he does. So when he announced that Jamie McMurray was his driver of choice for the newly formed Havoline Dodge program, no one should have flinched.

	Jamie McMurray Credit: Autostock

Not only did they flinch, they nearly fell down.

Certainly, over the past three years McMurray has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the NASCAR ranks, from an obscure Craftsman Truck Series ride to Brewco Motorsports' No. 27 Chevrolet where he'd begun to find consistency as a frontrunner.

Folks had begun to take notice. But no one expected this.

"They called and asked if I'd be interested -- who wouldn't be? -- and I didn't know exactly what to say," McMurray said Saturday afternoon. "This is a great opportunity for me. I told them sure, that they had a first-class operation and this would be huge for me, personally.

"But then they told me about ChevronTexaco. What an honor. I think everybody knows the history behind that sponsor and some of the great drivers that have been behind the wheel of that car. It feels like I'm living a dream right now."

McMurray's hiring continues the current trend of young up-and-comers being thrust into top-tier equipment. Some succeed immediately -- see Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Some don't -- see Jason Leffler.

There is no true formula to decipher how any one individual might fare in the Winston Cup hurricane, so Ganassi goes with his gut.

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"Anybody in this paddock that will tell you they know is lying to you. Nobody knows for sure," Ganassi said. "You never know. I'd obviously seen (McMurray) and looked at records and this and that; but it's really when we met him, I knew this was my guy. A lot of times I'm a first impression kind of guy, and that's what did it for me."

Ganassi put Leffler in the seat of his No. 01 Dodge a year ago with dismal results: one top-10 and eight DNFs in 30 races. He failed to qualify for six events.

Still, that didn't deter Ganassi from hiring another youngster to team up with veterans Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer.

"I guess a lot of young guys have come up and haven't made it," Ganassi said. "So many young people these days make a little bit of money and they think they're in the big time.

"It's very hard for somebody in their 20s to swallow all that and deal with all the things they have to deal with. Some of them can handle it and some of them can't. Nobody knows until they're in the middle of it."

McMurray is confident he's ready. To increase mental focus, he attended a human performance school near Charlotte. He'll soon begin workouts with Ganassi's in-house physical trainer, Al Shuford, to shape up physically.

	Chip Ganassi Credit: Autostock

"If you don't feel like you can do it, you wouldn't be here right now," McMurray said. "Chip asked me (if I was ready). I wouldn't come here if I didn't think I was. One thing I think I'll struggle with, or have to learn, is to stay focused for that long. That's a long time to be in a racecar. Buy yeah, I'm ready."

Ganassi hasn't ruled out throwing McMurray into the fray this year, but said it is currently not in the team's plans to do so. Johnson did so last year. So did Newman.

Those two have become the standard by which rookie seasons will be judged. McMurray said the Havoline Dodge team, for which no number has been chosen yet, will look for similar results.

"Definitely, you're going to set your goals as high as you can," he said. "Jimmie's having an incredible year and so is Ryan, and I don't know that we can say that's exactly what we're going to do, but we're going to do everything we can.

"This is great equipment and Chip is a racer at heart, so I'm confident he'll give me everything that I need to go win races."

Some question that, saying McMurray hasn't gone to Victory Lane in the Busch Series. Newman only won once. Johnson won just once. McMurray nearly pulled off his first career win last week at Richmond, finishing second to dominant Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

It was quite a weekend for the 26-year-old.

"This is the biggest weekend of my career," he said.