Conversation: Jamie McMurray

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In the high-pressure world of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, Jamie McMurray is a refreshing change of pace. He can light up a room with a smile, and his wide-eyed enthusiasm can be infectious.

AUDIO CLIPS Listen to the Conversation! 9:57 / 1.19 MB Listen

McMurray turns heads in other ways, too. He replaced the injured Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge last season and promptly won in his second start to set a modern-era record.

This season, McMurray drives the No. 42 Dodge for Ganassi as a teammate to Marlin and rookie Casey Mears. He's had some great runs, notably fifth-place finishes at Rockingham and California, and some not-so-great runs.

Recent Conversations  •  Richard Childress  •  Rick Hendrick  •  Bobby Hamilton Jr.  •  Scott Riggs  •  Mark Martin  •  Ryan Newman  •  Jeff Gordon  •  Casey Atwood  •  Jimmie Johnson  •  Jade Gurss  •  Greg Biffle  •  Jeff Burton  •  Kurt Busch  •  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  •  Steve Park  •  Michael Waltrip

That's typical for a rookie as he learns his team, which is led by crew chief Donnie Wingo, the other drivers, the tracks and the series.

McMurray recently sat down with NASCAR.com's Lee Montgomery to talk about his rookie season, on and off the track.

Q: You had the Terminator paint scheme on your car last weekend and you've seen the movie. Don't you wish you could drive like him in some of those scenes? It looked pretty wild out there, looked like Daytona during a restrictor-plate race.

McMurray: I'm wishing my car could rebuild itself like the girl did. That was pretty cool to watch that happen. The special effects in the movie are unreal.

Q: Do you get much chance to go out and do fun things with (girlfriend) Cielo (Garcia)? Or is your schedule so busy that you don't have that much time to do stuff like that?

McMurray: We don't' get to do it a lot. I'm not really a big 'go-out' person. Cielo liked going to a movie theater, and she likes to go eat dinner. On our off weekend, we go to go do that. So, two movies in less than a week, I'm hoping I earned some brownie points with her.

Q: The season to this point, maybe some people think you've surprised some folks with the way you've run. You've run pretty good at some places and not so good at others. I guess that's kind of a typical rookie season. What has it been like for you? Any surprises?

McMurray: No. We obviously wish we could be a little bit more consistent, and we have the last two or three races. Seems like we've been 12th-15th each race, with the exception of Sonoma.

	McMurray led the pack at Fontana before finishing fifth. Credit: Autostock

The road course, it seemed like where you came out after your last pit stop is where you finished. A few guys advanced, and some guys lost, but I think we came out 29th and ended up getting to 20th in the last 20 laps.

I hope we can become a little bit more consistent. On the bright side, our pit crew is getting better, our engines are getting better, the race cars themselves are getting better each week.

They're finding a lot to make our cars faster. It's going to make the second half of the season, the 20-(race) stretch run very promising for us.

Q: Have you done anything to prepare for that? Have you talked to other guys? It's going to be a grind, probably not so much for you but for the team. Have you thought about that, prepared for that at all?

McMurray: Well, for the drivers, I don't think it's that big a deal, 20 straight races. We have two tests left. We're going to Indy and will pick another track, and we'll probably go to Nashville or Kentucky a couple times.

Jamie McMurray  Driver Page  2003 Stats  Merchandise  Video Highlights  Photo Gallery  Article Archive

I love going and testing. I hear a lot of the media people, TV people who want to interview the drivers about, 'Well what's that like for 20 straight races?' On us, it's not that big a deal.

But on the crew guys who never get to see their wives, never get to see their kids, it's got to be hard on them. You're asking the wrong guy about if it's going to be tough on me or not.

Q: Speaking of some of the crew guys, I've seen you out with them sometimes on race weekends. A lot of drivers go an isolate themselves. You don't seem to be that kind of guy. Why do you go spend time with crew guys?

McMurray: I don't get to do it a lot at the races. Obviously, Havoline has me doing things, or I'm doing appearances for Dodge. When we go to test, I go hang out with them because they're your friends.

	McMurray was a surprise choice when hired by Ganassi (right) in Sept. 2002. Credit: Autostock

Those are your buddies. When you race cars, I don't really have any friends away from the race track. Everyone that I know is at the race track. It's just fun to hang out with them. I'm still young and like to go hang out with people.

I've got a good group of guys. Everyone on my team has a very positive attitude. Most race teams have at least one or two guys who always seem to be like the sour apple and always find something wrong with everything.

But I've got a wonderful race team - not just my team, but everybody at Ganassi wants to be there, wants to race and likes everyone there. So we have a really good situation right now.

Q: Do you think that aspect of it comes from Chip, comes from the top? He's wanted to assemble a team like that.

McMurray: Not only with Chip, but also (team managers) Andy (Graves) and Tony (Glover).

I feel like they're pretty good about reading people, their first impression, and about hiring people that are not only extremely smart and knowledgeable about the race cars, but they also hire people they know will get along.

	Credit: Autostock

We have three separate race teams with the 40, 41 and 42. Each race team has their own personality. They've done a good job of putting people with the people they'd get along with better.

The 40 crew is different than the 42. it's just a different group of guys in their personalities. They're both good, but they're both just a little bit different.

Q: You have seemed to outrun Casey a little bit. At the start of the year, a lot of people were talking you and him: You're teammates, but you don't want the other guy to beat you.

What's your relationship with him like these days? Do you think his struggles are going to get better as the season goes along?

McMurray: They're running Casey in some ARCA races, and he's going to run some Busch races, I think, in the 19 car. That is going to help him out. That's one of the reasons we've run pretty good - getting to run the Busch cars, helping me out a lot.

I've got a lot more stock car experience between the trucks and growing up racing stock cars than what Casey does.

	McMurray spins at Richmond in May Credit: Autostock

They're getting better each week. They're going to be just like everybody else. They're going to struggle every once in a while. Michigan and Pocono, where Casey got to run the ARCA car and got some track time, he ran a lot better than what they have.

I know that everybody at the shop seems to be pretty high on Casey and hasn't gotten down on their performance. That's the most important thing, that everybody keeps a positive attitude and lets Casey get a feel for the stock cars.

Q: A lot of people, when you arrived in this sport last year when you got the chance to drive Sterling's car, were, not amazed, but pleasantly surprised with your attitude, with your outlook on things.

You're kind of wide-eyed in some ways. Have the eyes closed a little bit? Or are you still enjoying, still trying to soak it all in?

McMurray: You know what, I never knew what stress was, because racing doesn't stress me out because I love to do it. But I bought this house, and I thought I was going to be a contractor.

	Credit: Autostock

I got grumpy. For two weeks, I was terrible to be around, just wanting to fight with everybody. Cielo and my mom, Donnie, Glover kind of reminded me that I'm doing something I love and not to get upset about all this stuff.

We're getting to do something that everybody would love to get to do. They reminded me of that. I just keep reminding myself of that. I have the best job in the world. Havoline has me come do appearances.

Went to Phoenix and rode go-karts for one appearance and we got to go watch the T3 movie as another appearance. It's not that bad a life. I can't imagine anybody not smiling or not having a good time with it.

A lot of people tell me that maybe when I walk into a room, it kind of makes the room seem easier to be in, and everyone smiles. I love joking around.

That's probably the reason why I get along with everybody at Ganassi. Chip, every time he shows up at the race track has a joke to tell and always wants to laugh. Who wouldn't want to be around someone like that?

	Casey Mears Credit: Autostock

That makes it easier on me that I can be myself. I'm a little jokester. Sterling is the same way, always playing a prank on someone.

We have fun at our race team. Every thought it's very serious, extremely serious, and we all want to win. At the same time, we can have a good time with it.

Q: Any practical jokes that Sterling's pulled on you that you can tell the public?

McMurray: No, it hasn't happened in a while. I did the stink bombs in his car a while back, so the favor is going to get returned before too long, I'm sure. Sterling always has a good story, and it's only funny when he tells it.

Q: Any good Chip jokes that are clean?

	Sterling Marlin Credit: Autostock

McMurray: No, Chip jokes are going to have to stay off-line, I think.

Q: The Dodge teams struggled somewhat aerodynamically at the start of the season. And yet, now, maybe you've figured it out. Have you figured out aerodynamically what the package is because of the rules change? When did that happen, and how did that happen?

McMurray: We have a completely separate team that's like an R&D-type team that goes to the wind tunnel and does all of our testing. I don't know that we're making a lot more downforce than we were, but it seems to be a lot more balanced.

I'm sure it's getting better. I know that our cars the second half of the season are a lot better than what we started with, and it seems like every time they put a body on the car, when they bring it back, it's better.

	Credit: Autostock

I don't know what they're doing. I listen to Donnie tell me, 'This is a really good body.' He'll point out what we changed and whatnot and let me look at that.

I think he tells me that more than anything because when you get in a car and they tell you, 'Look, this thing made a ton of downforce. It's going to be good,' the drivers just feel better about it.

Everybody on TV always thanks 'the guys at the shop' and 'the engine guys,' but the honest-to-God truth is you can't do it without those people.

We're lucky that we've got the intelligence at our shop, the people that are capable of mounting bodies and making the cars better because when you go to these really fast race tracks, if your car's not balanced, it's almost scary to drive at times.

There's a lot of really good race car drivers, but if they're not in a car that's god a good body and a good engine, they can't show how good they are. It definitely is a team effort.

That's something I've learned this year.