Jamie McMurray Diary: Nearing the rookie title

Well, I can say I've now raced 800 miles in one day after last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The Busch race got rained out on Friday night, so we ran it Saturday morning, and then the Winston Cup race ran as scheduled on Saturday night. I was tired after the day was over, but not as tired as I figured I'd be.

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We had solid runs with the Havoline Dodge in both the Busch and Winston Cup races. We finished fifth in the Busch race and seventh in the Winston Cup race. Our No. 42 Havoline Dodge was pretty good in the Cup race, we just never could get it adjusted right to make a challenge on Tony Stewart, but it was a great effort by everyone on the team. We had great pit stops and picked up positions each time we pitted. The guys on the Havoline team are definitely on their game.

I was really hoping to be able to repeat as the winner at Charlotte, but I'm happy with our finish. Obviously, you always want to do better, but I feel like we're really showing the strength of this team. That's our fourth top-10 finish in the last five races, and we moved up another spot in the point standings and built our lead over Greg Biffle in the Raybestos rookie standings, so it was a good night for the Havoline team.

I really feel like we can finish out these last five races with top five and top-10 finishes. We're taking a car to Martinsville this weekend that we finished third with at Bristol and 10th with at Loudon. Then we're taking the car we had at Charlotte to Atlanta in a couple of weeks. We should end the season strong and that is going to definitely give us momentum heading into next year.

While Charlotte was a really busy week for me, I did get the chance to attend my first ever fan club meeting. That was a really cool experience for me because you knew going into it that everyone who was there wanted to see you. It was neat to here the stories and truly get to see how dedicated my fans are. It was a very good way to spend last Friday morning. Hope everyone that attended felt like it was worth his or her time and money.

	Credit: Autostock

This week has been really slow for me, which is a nice change of pace after the past three weeks. I've been able to do some work on my house and just hang out. It's been a relaxing week. I'm learning to really enjoy and appreciate these types of weeks because they don't come along too often.

Now to some questions...

How do you stay so grounded? -- Meredith Templeton, Emporia, Va. and Carlie, Jersey Shore

You know, it's not like I sit around thinking about staying grounded, I'm just being me. I have a lot of great people around me who help keep me focused on what really matters. And I owe a lot of that to my parents and family. I grew up in a middle class family and know what it's like to have to work for things you want and need. I appreciate the compliment, and hopefully I'll always remain that way.

How do you get ready for the season that is coming up when you are off? -- Kim, Waynesboro, Miss.

To be honest, there really isn't an off-season for us. Yes, there are no races, but there's tests and lots of media and promotional things you do for your sponsor to get ready for the next season. For us, we're changing the paint scheme next year on the Havoline Dodge, so that means new photo shoots and commercial shoots. And then of course we're back at Daytona in January for testing. There are a couple of weeks in December around Christmas that are slow, but for the most part, we stay pretty busy during the off-season.

How long will you be driving the Havoline car for Chip Ganassi Racing? And now that David Stremme has taken over driving the No. 1 Yellow car, will you be racing another Busch car, or focusing on Winston Cup next year? -- Deb Wentzel, Reading, Pa.

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I hope to be with Havoline and Chip Ganassi Racing for a long time. We'll be talking about contract extensions over the winter. As for running a Busch car, there have been no set plans for next season. We ran a Havoline Busch car last weekend in Charlotte for Braun Racing, but that was a one-race deal at the moment. You may see us show up with a Busch car next year, but nothing has been set.

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