McMurray went from fear to triumph at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jamie McMurray shot up in bed, his body drenched in cold sweat, his mind churning in anxiety for the third consecutive night.

It was 4 a.m., but sleep wasn't a possibility with such a surly, menacing demon testing his mental fortitude.

Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The mere mention of the legendary, 1.5-mile Charlotte track made young McMurray cringe in resistance. He'd never had any semblance of success there, and admittedly despised the place.

So when Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates informed him three weeks back that he would drive for the injured Sterling Martin for the remainder of the season, it was the second race on the docket, Charlotte, and not his debut at Talladega that instantly overwhelmed him.

	Jamie McMurray will honor his Busch Series commitment and race at Memphis this weekend. Credit: Autostock

Marlin was the defending race winner, and McMurray would be driving the same car Marlin won at both Darlington and Las Vegas in earlier this season.

Expectations were borderline astronomical.

"My girlfriend will tell you when I was told I was going to drive the 40 car for the rest of the year, this is the place I was really worried about," said McMurray, still frazzled after winning the UAW-GM Quality 500 in just his second Winston Cup Series start, a modern-era record.

"I woke up at 4 in the morning two or three nights after I was told. She asked me what I was doing up and I told her I didn't want to go to Charlotte."

That all changed with Sunday's jaw-dropping victory, during which McMurray fended off victory-starved former champion Bobby Labonte in the final stages to become just the 11th driver in NASCAR's 54-year history to win in either his first or second start.

"It was our turn to win. The second time out, it was our turn to win," McMurray said. "It was our night. We had a great race car and they made good calls in the pits. I struggled getting in and out of the pits. They told me I was driving like a girl."

As the laps wound down on the landmark victory, McMurray drove more like a man possessed.

He dove down to the bottom of the track, dead on the white line, below the lapped machine of Jerry Nadeau. Meanwhile, Labonte soared high, making a three-wide battle through Turn 3.

McMurray won the battle, then the war.

At that moment, Ganassi knew he had a soldier.

"I saw him do that move in three," Ganassi said, shaking his head. "We were having a good night, when he and Bobby split the 44 car, that was my turning point for the race. I said, 'OK, this kid's a racer.' It's validated now. He's got what it takes."

VIDEO CLIPS Jamie McMurray wins in just his second Winston Cup start. Play video McMurray holds off Bobby Labonte to win at Charlotte. Play video

Driving along "cool as a cucumber" -- as described by Ganassi -- over the final few laps, McMurray didn't think back to past struggles, undying family support or how he'd went from Late Model obscurity to Winston Cup winner in just two years.

He thought about the media.

He thought about everyone who, just one month ago, said, 'Jamie Who?'

"I was thinking about everyone in this (press box) about the last 20 laps," McMurray said. "The No. 1 question I've been asked is, why did Felix and Chip take a chance on me? I knew I was going to be asked that question all winter long. I'm glad I finally won a race."

Finally?

"When I say finally, I mean between the Busch Series and Truck Series and everybody wanted to know why they hired me," he continued. "Chip and Felix and Coors Light and everybody took a chance on a guy living his dream. I'm going to cry. It's not funny.

"Put yourself in my shoes. I haven't won a Truck race or a Busch race and you're leading at a racetrack that you absolutely hated last year. I was nervous I was going to throw it all away in the last 10 laps, just going crazy. I can't really explain what went through my head while I was out there."

Maybe how much more he likes Charlotte.