McMurray stumbles into second straight win

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Jamie McMurray stumbled upon victory for the second consecutive week Saturday at North Carolina Speedway, this time after race dominator Jeff Green and determined suitor Michael Waltrip wrecked each other out of contention on the next-to-last lap.

As the white flag fell over the Sam's Club 200 at The Rock, McMurray was riding along in third position behind Green and Waltrip, who were engaged in a furious battle for the lead that began some four laps earlier.

Green was the race leader with seven laps remaining when Hermie Sadler and Kerry Earnhardt got together in Turn 2 while battling for 21st position. With debris strewn throughout Turns 1 and 2, NASCAR opted to halt the event under the red flag, clean up the racing surface and finish under green flag conditions.

When the race resumed on lap 193 of 197 in single-file formation, Green quickly opened a five car-length lead over Waltrip. But Waltrip quickly rebounded, pulling up alongside the left rear quarter panel of Green's Chevrolet.

As the duo entered Turn 3 on lap 196, Waltrip shot underneath Green in an attempt to pass for the win.

They made contact. Both cars spun. McMurray waltzed into Victory Lane.

Championship points leader Greg Biffle finished second, followed by Randy LaJoie in third, David Green fourth and Stacy Compton rounded out the top five. Green finished sixth and Waltrip seventh.

"We were racing and Michael's trying to win like I am," said a dejected Green. "He got a run on me, and I thought I gave him enough room getting into (Turn) 3.

"I thought I did the right thing. He says I didn't. He got loose, got in the side of me and we both wrecked. This is hard to swallow, when you have that good a racecar."

Green and Waltrip far outclassed the field Saturday, as Green led a race-high 133 laps and Waltrip paced 60 circuits. McMurray led two.

"It's really easy to pinch somebody off, (Green and Waltrip) were racing real hard," McMurray said. "(Green) pinched him off a little bit. Anybody would've done it. Unbelievable. I can't believe the luck we've had."

No one can. In the past two weeks, McMurray has led a total of three laps -- and he's won twice. Last weekend at Atlanta, McMurray was cruising along in second place on the final lap when race leader Joe Nemechek rain out of gas, handing McMurray his first career NBS triumph.

"We got lucky again," he said. "Good luck. I knew we were good on short runs, but I was so tight on that set of tires. I thought we'd run third. We'd be content there, but it's amazing what happened."

Waltrip agrees. He doesn't feel as if his fellow Kentuckian raced him clean.

"One (Owensboro, Ky., native) cut the other a little short," Waltrip said. "I didn't have enough room into (Turn) 3. I clearly got underneath him. I dove in there and he dove in and tried to cut me off, tried to mess me up. The lap before that he cut me off real bad.

"I think he wanted to ruffle my side and mess me up. We both spun out. We found out two weeks in a row how to lose one. Maybe we'll go to Homestead and get us one."

Amid all the drama, Greg Biffle effectively clinched the championship. He finished second Saturday while Jason Keller experienced trouble, enabling Biffle to run his championship points advantage to 212 points with two races remaining.

"This really clinched the championship in our eyes," said Biffle, whose 2000 Craftsman Truck Series championship is the lone title in Roush Racing history. "We're exciting, and we're going to be celebrating that tonight."