Diary: Jamie McMurray

Thrilling finishes show NASCAR's appeal

This past weekend's races at Darlington showed why NASCAR is the No. 1 sport in America. Both the Winston Cup and Busch series races had amazing finishes, and I'm glad I can say I was part of one of them.

	Jamie McMurray

I really thought the No. 42 Havoline Dodge would be strong in Sunday's race, and it would have been had it not been for contact with Matt Kenseth in the first few laps of the race. Someone in front of us spun, and all you could see was smoke. My spotter told me to go low, and I guess Matt's spotter told him the same thing, and we made contact.

We hit hard enough that it knocked the toe out on my car and damaged the right-front fender, which is critical for downforce with the Dodges. We made several pit stops, though, and the guys on the team never gave up. We eventually got the car handling pretty good toward the end of the race. We finished 22nd, which is disappointing, but considering how may cars fell out and the damage we had at the start, we'll take 22nd and get ready for Bristol.

The Busch race was rained out on Saturday, so I stayed over and raced on Monday. I'm beginning to really like Monday races. We used the same car that we won with at Rockingham earlier this year, and I knew we'd have a good car for the race at Darlington. I was able to make my way up through the field early in the race, and we had great pit stops throughout the race that gave us the track position we needed. With a handful of laps remaining, I could tell I was catching leader Todd Bodine, and on the final lap, it was a mad scramble.

Coming off Turn 4, Bodine got loose, and I made a run on the outside of him. Our cars touched, and Bodine's car cut right and got into my left-rear tire, causing it to go flat. We both lost control of our cars as we went spinning across the finish line. Bodine slid across the line ahead of me and got the win. But, man, what a great finish. That's what racing is all about.

Now we get ready for Bristol, which means it could be another interesting race weekend. Bristol is one of those tracks where if you can avoid the wrecks early and stay around for the end, you'll get a good finish. I'll be running both the Winston Cup and Busch car, so it will be another hectic weekend.

I've got a few interviews to do this week before we leave for Bristol. Things are about to get extremely busy with several new media opportunities that hopefully I can tell you about next week after they've been announced.

Hope everyone enjoys the action at Bristol this weekend. Before I go, let's get to some questions.

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Jamie, in an interview at Daytona you said you hired your dad to drive your motor coach. How is that working out? The driver's motor coach area is a place most fans never get to see, so what goes on back there?

-- Justin Roberts, Lawrence, Kan.

Justin, it's been pretty neat to have my dad drive the motor coach. He's always been such a supporter of my racing career that I feel like this is my way of paying him back for all those years of sacrifice he made that has allowed me to live out my dream. But like with any father-son relationship, we have our moments, but overall, it's pretty cool having him there each week.

As far as what goes on in the motor coach lot, I think people would be really surprised how uneventful it really is, at least for me. I usually just hang out and rest in my motor coach. Sometimes I'l' walk over to crew chief Donnie Wingo's team manager Tony Glover's motor coaches to go over race setups. Mostly though, I just spend time with Cielo and rest.

What is the best and worst part of being a NASCAR driver?

-- Heidi Dryman, Greenville, S.C.

The best part is I'm getting to live out my dream. From the time I can remember, this is all I've wanted to do, and now that I'm getting to do it, I'm thankful everyday that I've been giving this opportunity.

I wouldn't say there is a "worst" part to be a Winston Cup driver. It's just a lot different than what I had envisioned in my head. So much of your time is taken up with media interviews, sponsor appearances and testing that there's not a lot of downtime. But no complaints here, that's just part of the business. And without it, we wouldn't be able to do our job on the track.

How do you train to meet the physical demands of driving a racecar?

-- Jaime Noble, Lawrence, Kan.

At Chip Ganassi Racing we have a personal trainer, Al Shuford, who works with the drivers and crew members to make sure we're in the best shape possible to do our jobs effectively. As far as me personally, I have a treadmill and free weights at my house that I use daily to keep in shape. Just being in a racecar keeps you in shape because you're working muscles that you're not even aware of until the race is over.

Jamie McMurray drives the No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. His diary will appear weekly on SI.com.

Jamie will devote a portion of his diary each week to answering questions from SI.com users.