McMurray disappointed despite strong day

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Friday wasn't a bad day for Jamie McMurray.

Not long after qualifying second for Saturday's Rockingham 200 NASCAR Busch Series race, McMurray drove his No. 42 Dodge to seventh starting spot for Sunday's Subway 400 Winston Cup race.

	Jamie McMurray

That was the highest among the five rookies in the race, but McMurray was disappointed -- with both laps.

"It was a little bit loose," McMurray said. "The second lap was really going to be good, but I got really loose off of 4, it felt like. That's better than what we practiced. The racetrack gained some grip."

"I got a little loose off of 4, or I'd be where Dave Blaney is now. That's part of it."

He might have been a bit more frustrated with his Busch Series lap. He used the same setup in both cars, but came up short to David Green. Interestingly, Green drove the same car McMurray qualified third with last November here.

Subway 400  Blaney takes Bud Pole  Benson qualifies second  Lineup  1st Practice Speeds  Photo Gallery

"It's a little bit frustrating to get beat by David Green," McMurray said. "That's the same car I qualified third here in the fall. I know it's the same shocks. That's a little bit disappointing. But we'll have a good car for the race."

McMurray hopes he'll have a good Winston Cup car, too. He should, for it's the same setup McMurray used as a substitute for Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 last year. He qualified second and finished 15th in that car.

"Everything we tried to do different, we'd go slower," McMurray said of his team's futile attempts to improve the setup. "We'd pretty much go back to what Sterling had here the last couple years."

Qualifying was a bit of a scramble Friday. NASCAR's tougher inspection process sometimes means cars are pushed to the qualifying line just in time for the drivers to jump in the car, strap in and go.

VIDEO CLIPS Blaney wins the Subway 400 Bud Pole at The Rock Play video Martin ends up third on the qualifying chart Play video Earnhardt Jr. has the second-quickest Chevrolet Play video

There's not much time to chill, collect your thoughts and focus on ripping off a fast lap.

At least that's McMurray's excuse.

"With all the templates that they have now they're so behind getting up there," McMurray said." I kind of like to get in there and hang out for a little bit and think about what is going to happen. It's kind of rushed just throwing in and going, but that wasn't bad."

And it shouldn't be bad Sunday, either. McMurray has done lots of testing at North Carolina Speedway -- last year in the No. 40 and this year in his No. 42 -- to get used to the tricky 1.017-mile track.

So Benson has lofty expectations for Sunday.

"I think it's very realistic that we'll finish in the top 10, if we don't have any problems," McMurray said. "We'll have a really good car."