No wins, but McMurray earning respect

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- About the biggest learning curve Jamie McMurray has faced this year is battling the allergies that come with life in North Carolina.

Jamie McMurray  Driver Page  2003 Stats  Article Archive  Bio  Merchandise

That might be a stretch. Sneezing aside, McMurray's rookie season has been tough.

He'd expected to win at least one of the first 29 races in the 2003 season, and he damn near won two of them (Fontana, Indy).

The six races he ran in while subbing for Sterling Marlin in 2002 helped tremendously, but that's merely stating the obvious.

Lightning struck when he won at Charlotte in his second career start, but he hasn't been back in victory lane since.

	Chip Ganassi Racing honored Davey Allison with a retro paint scheme at Talladega. Credit: Autostock

He watched as Greg Biffle became the first rookie to win in 2003. Even though McMurray won in 2002, he still admits that he wanted to beat Biffle to the punch.

"You want to be the first one to win," McMurray said. "But it seems like since he's won, we've run really well, so maybe it's stepped our program up."

Havoline loves him. Car owner Chip Ganassi loves him. So much, in fact, that McMurray hopes to sign a long-term contract extension after the season is over.

"I think we are going to try to get something worked out this winter, it's one of those deals where when everything's going well, everyone's happy," McMurray said. "I know I never want to have another sponsor.

"We have a championship-caliber team, and they like me, so everything is going really well. We hope to get something worked out."

VIDEO CLIPS Waltrip celebrates his second win of the season Play video Waltrip holds off Junior and Gordon in the final laps Play video Junior was in the middle of the madness all day Play video Sadler goes for a wild ride with seven laps to go Play video Contact with Waltrip and Junior sends Johnson spinning Play video Green spins on pit road after contact with Sadler Play video Six cars are collected in a lap 10 wreck Play video

And so he has. In the 12 races since Daytona, McMurray has been the top finishing rookie nine times, enabling him to take the lead in the rookie standings with only seven races to go.

He finished 16th at Talladega to score top rookie honors for the sixth straight time. He led 20 laps in the early going and had a shot at a top five before getting shuffled back in the pack late in the event.

But he earned more respect in the process.

In a year where fines and probations have dominated the headlines in lieu of a lackluster points battle, Jamie McMurray has made it through his rookie season by being decidedly non-controversial.

He's become more polished, usually keeping his once-wild hair covered in a sponsor-stained hat.

He hasn't been scolded by NASCAR for on or off-track incidents. His competitors haven't screamed at him after 500 hard miles.

And that's by McMurray's design. The 27-year-old came to Winston Cup via the rough-and-tumble short tracks in Missouri.

It wasn't exactly the easiest way to get to the top. Now that he's gotten this far, he wants to stay.

"Winning the race (at Charlotte), I don't know if that is what made those guys want to race with me, but we've been able to run in the top 10, and I think I race everyone really clean, and I think everybody knows that," McMurray said.

	McMurray: "I think I race everyone really clean, and I think everybody knows that." Credit: Autostock

"I've had a couple (drivers) come and apologize for getting into me, but haven't had anyone come and say, 'What were you thinking?'"

McMurray thought he had Indianapolis won, but a late caution -- and some hard racing with Robby Gordon -- turned a winning car into one that finished third.

"That guy -- he just races so hard," McMurray said at the time.

Welcome to Winston Cup racing.

McMurray pauses when he talks about the low points of the year. There have been a few, namely Martinsville, a track that McMurray had not raced on until the spring.

He was running third when the engine let go after 319 laps.

That one hurt.

	McMurray leads teammate Sterling Marlin at Talladega. Credit: Autostock

"We've had three engine failures, and two of them came while we were running in the top five," McMurray said. "Sometimes you can pinpoint whose fault it is on engine failures or something breaking on the car, but it was just one of those things.

"It wasn't anyone's fault. When you have an engine failure or you don't finish well, it makes the next week hard to go to."

Those weeks have been few and far between in the second half. The team is out of tests, but McMurray feels better about tackling the final seven races.

Especially with his warm-up from 2002.

"Charlotte or Kansas are going to be two really good tracks," said McMurray, who burned his team's last test during a recent two-day test session at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"We had as good a test as anyone can ask for," McMurray said.