McMurray wins in just his second start

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jamie McMurray must have dainty feet.

The glass slipper fits quite well.

McMurray, making just his second career Winston Cup Series start in the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge substituting for injured Sterling Marlin, won the UAW-GM Quality 500 Sunday evening at Lowe's Motor Speedway, making him the quickest winner in NASCAR's modern era.

McMurray, who made his Winston Cup debut one week ago at Talladega, started fifth and ran in the top 10 for more than half the race. He nabbed the lead for the final time by passing Mark Martin with 30 laps remaining.

From there, he rode along quite comfortably until the final lap, when Bobby Labonte pulled up to his right rear quarter panel, only to have the youngster fend him off.

"This is amazing. This was my worst track," said McMurray in Victory Lane. "It doesn't look like it, but it is my worst track. This is just a great race team. They took a chance on me. I've never won in Trucks, never won in Busch.

"So they took a chance, put me in first-class equipment. I just tried hard to stay focused during those last few laps. I can't believe I'm not crying right now."

With the win, McMurray becomes the fourth first-time winner this year and just the 11th driver in NASCAR's 54 years to earn a win in either his first or second career start.

Kevin Harvick won last season at Atlanta in just his third career Winston Cup start.

VIDEO CLIPS Jamie McMurray visits Victory Lane in just his second Winston Cup start. Play video Jamie McMurray gets the better of Bobby Labonte in the final laps. Play video One slip and 10 cars get damaged at Lowe's Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

Though McMurray shocked himself and nearly the entire NASCAR world, the man he replaced wasn't overly surprised.

"I knew Jamie would be good," said Sterling Marlin from his home in Columbia, Tenn. "That's the same car we won Darlington and Vegas with. Those guys did a great job and Jamie drove one helluva race."

McMurray didn't buy it.

"He's surprised," he said. "Don't let him fool you."

In two years of Busch Series competition, a span of 64 races, he has never won a race. His best career finish was last month, when he finished second to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Richmond International Raceway.

Labonte finished second, followed by championship points leader Tony Stewart in third, Jeff Gordon in fourth and Rusty Wallace in fifth.

Labonte's second place finish is his best since winning Martinsville back in April. Labonte had his most potent car since that win, the same ride that won at Charlotte two years ago and had been converted from Pontiac to Chevrolet (for testing purposes) then back to Pontiac.

Labonte was the race leader on lap 221 when Ricky Rudd hit the Turn 2 wall to bring out the day's fourth caution. That proved a lucky break for Labonte. When he pitted, his crew noticed a cut left front tire.

	Jamie McMurray led 96 laps. Credit: Autostock

That wasn't his only tire trouble. According to Labonte, he was forced to pit early again with a cut right front tire.

"We had two flat tires when Ricky wrecked. I don't know if I ran over something then or had a tire going down," Labonte said. "The caution came out, we pitted and had a flat tire. Then, there at the end, the reason I pitted was because I had a flat tire.

"I couldn't adjust on it that one time because I made the wrong adjustment because the car was too loose. I don't know if it was the tires going flat or whatever. I kind of got behind on that."

Stewart, meanwhile, came out ahead.

He may have had the fastest car late, but upon doing some quick math decided he wasn't quite quick enough to catch McMurray. That doesn't mean he let up.

"Like I said, nobody can accuse me of points racing," said Stewart, who first met McMurray while racing go karts as teenagers. "I told them on the radio, they said, 'Just keep the big picture in mind,' and I said, 'I'm racing to win tonight.' I'm really happy for Jamie, happy for the Coors Light team. Awesome job. We did what we had to do today, too.

"We basically ran out of laps. I was gaining a tenth, tenth-and-a-half a lap. But I did some math and realized I couldn't catch him, much less pass him."

Stewart now leads Jimmie Johnson by 97 points heading to Martinsville next weekend.

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McMurray still has four races left in the No. 27 Chevrolet for Busch Series owner Clarence Brewer, including next week's event at Memphis Motorsports Park. He was supposed to skip out on the Cup race at Martinsville, but now he's unsure.

"I told my sister and family back home that if I ran well at Charlotte I was going to ask them if I could go," McMurray said. "I'm going to ask them."

McMurray will pilot Chip Ganassi's Havoline Dodge full-time in 2003. When that partnership was announced at Richmond, many were left scratching their heads.

Not anymore.

"It's a really hard situation with Sterling getting hurt and everything," McMurray said. "Chip and Felix (Sabates) have a first-class operation and gave me a great opportunity."