Jamie McMurray (left) has found a valuable mentor (and boss) in Rusty Wallace. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Jamie McMurray

DOVER, Del. -- Jamie McMurray fell 15 points short of the opportunity to chase the Nextel Cup, and it was hard on him. Nights brought sleeplessness as he replayed the final stages of the Chevy Rock n' Roll 400 in his mind.

But he knows it's time to move on, to race for 11th. He's done so, and posted a pair of top 10 finishes in the first two playoff races. For the record, that's six-straight top 10s.

Last Saturday, prior to Happy Hour practice at Dover International Speedway, McMurray sat down with NASCAR.COM Senior Writer Marty Smith to talk about the worrisome days leading up to Richmond and the restless nights that followed, the Bristol body and home improvement tips from Sterling Marlin.

First off, none of us have really gotten to speak with you since Richmond. I know you want to put it behind you, but what are your thoughts about being that 11th place guy, being that close and whether the rest of the season is anticlimactic now, because you guys are racing so well.

McMurray: Yeah, it's probably the most disappointing thing that's happened to me in my racing career, to come that close. And there's so many ways to look at that.

McMurray is tied for second in top-10 finishes (17). Credit: Autostock

If we hadn't had the 25 points taken away from us for the body deal at Bristol, and the DNFs with the engines. Gosh, if you just could have finished one spot better in three of the 26 races, you'd make it. It's so close.

It's disappointing, but at the same time, our team is running as well as it ever has. The week after Richmond was probably the hardest, and then we went on to Loudon and were going to qualify well - I think we were first when it got rained out.

Then we ended up running fifth, so I kind of forgot about it. Actually, it seems like it's been a month since Richmond, seems like it's been forever and it's only been a week and a half. I'm just glad it's all over with, and I'm just ready to move forward.

You were talking about how hard that week after Richmond was, did you do something to get away? How'd you cope with it?

McMurray: I had pretty much a normal week. The biggest thing was I was so mentally worn out before the race at Richmond, just worrying about the points deal. I'd never been that stressed out, I don't think, over anything.

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Then when it was over with, and the race was over with, I got home at like midnight, one in the morning, and I slept until like noon the next day. And I don't ever sleep late. I was just junk, worn out.

Then, the next two nights I couldn't sleep. Stayed up thinking about it, running over the last 40 laps in your head, just wondering what you could have done different.

But didn't have a whole lot we could do different. Just pretty much had my normal week. For Loudon, I think I went to the shop one day and then, obviously, I'm still working on my house. So I kind of kept myself entertained with that.

So you're building a new house?

McMurray: No, just remodeled a house. I've got a bunch of land, so I put a gate up, a wall, a fence, a pond. I've got all kinds of projects going on up there. And I'm not doing any of the work. I'm just kind of watching everybody else work. It's fun.

I was going to ask if it's something you're doing yourself.

McMurray: Yeah. Naw. I've got a contractor that helps me, but then I'm really picky. So I just go out and tell the guys what I want. It's pretty cool. I've always like to watch home improvement stuff, so when you get to see it actually happen at your house it's pretty cool.

I just built a house last November myself and I can't do anything either. I'm very disinclined there. Anyway, there's been a lot of speculation on where you're going to be driving, when. We know you're going to be at Ganassi in 2005. That whole deal had to be mentally taxing on you, as well.

McMurray: Yeah, most definitely. Wow. It's ... I'm definitely going to be back here next year, and I'm going to run, hopefully, up to 24 Busch races next year. Trying to get all that stuff finalized with Rusty. I'm pretty excited about that. I've never really went into a season knowing I was going to run Busch races.

The first year, with (James) Finch, that kind of came about right at the end. Then last year I wasn't planning on doing anything and ended up in the TrimSpa car for a race and ended up driving Finch's car for a while. And now, I'm in Rusty's car. So we pretty much know what we're going to do next year, so that's pretty exciting to have your whole schedule planned out.

You were talking about that 25-point penalty at Bristol. A lot of people have voiced the opinion that that kept you guys out. But if you look at the stat sheet, you had a lot of motor issues. Even Casey (Mears) had a motor issue at Atlanta leading the race, or at least when he was very fast. Has that been addressed, and is it remedied?

McMurray: Well, the deal with the body, it was an honest mistake. We went to a racetrack, Bristol, that you plan on tearing a car up, or least have a 50/50 shot at tearing it up.

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And it's one thing if you show up at one of these really fast racetracks with a cheated-up car, because you know you're going to have an advantage.

But at Bristol, it just slipped through. I know all those guys back at the shop felt horrible. I think if you're trying to cheat, trying to sneak something by, it'd have been different. But we honestly, it was just a mistake. That's part of being human, is making mistakes.

I screw up all the time and those guys don't ever yell at me. So you can't get mad at those guys, because no one did it on purpose.

It was just one of those things. The engine deal, they kind of sat me down and we talked about it, and the part that's hard to accept is, I think Casey's broke one motor, and Sterling hasn't broken any, and I've broke four or five.

So if we were to divide those up between everybody, a couple engines failures per year is no big deal. That's expected. You're going to have that in what we do. We just happened to get stuck with the ones that wanted to break. We didn't ever break the same thing twice. We broke something different every single time.

And every time it broke, they went back and fixed it and we haven't had a problem again with it. It's very, very frustrating and disappointing, but at the same time it's not like all three teams were blowing motors up, just mine. But there's not a lot you can do about it. It's the way, sometimes, your seasons go.

As well as you're running, it seems if you continued this, you'd be a top 10 driver at the end of the year. Does it just kill you to not be able to race your way in there, and do you think NASCAR should visit some way for you guys being able to do that?

McMurray: I told someone yesterday that I wish they'd have made it 600 points, but if you'd have made it 600 points, then the guy who was 605 (points) out would have said you need to make it 700. You knew the rules going in. It was exciting.

Credit: Autostock

The points system, I was pretty much against it at the beginning of the year and, as a driver, you still don't like it because I have the possibly of getting up to like sixth in points. But it definitely was good for the fans. If you read what all the emails and articles that fans are writing in, it's pretty exciting.

It was definitely some drama for the drivers, whether you were going to get in that race or not. So I think it probably did what NASCAR wanted it to do, and it's going to be exciting these next eight races, or whatever it is, to see who's going to win the championship, because it's so close.

So probably it did what they wanted it to do, but as a driver you'd like to see getting back into the top 10.

Are you in a situation now, though, where you can just pin your ears back? Is there any conservative approach at all to try to finish 11th, or is it like, the hell with it, I'm going to just mash it.

McMurray: Yeah, but we do that all year, with the exception of the last two races at Richmond and California. But even at California with five laps to go me and (Brian) Vickers and Carl (Edwards) were all three-wide, just sideways.

So it wasn't like you were racing conservative. We were racing our (butts) off, just giving it 100 percent. We're not going to do anything different.

So talk to me about this home improvement deal of yours. What's your style? Are you earth tones? Are you new and hip? What's the story there?

McMurray: You know, I just let my contractor help me pick all that stuff out, because I'm not very good at that. I know what I don't like, but I don't really know what I like.

So I went through some houses and pointed at stuff and said, 'I like that and I like that.' Now that's as far as the inside of the house. Now, the outside of the house I know exactly what I want, with the fence and the gate. Actually, I designed my own gate.

That's cool stuff to get do. It's different. It's hard. Casey (Mears) is sitting here. He's doing the same thing with his house, getting it decorated and everything. And when you're our age, you're just not used to doing stuff like that.

It's our first time to go through it, but it's part of life and everyone wants to have a nice home. That's something that's really important to me, to have all my stuff looking good and live in a nice house.

You could always go to Sterling for advice, I'm sure.

McMurray: Probably not. Let's see. It'd have a pole in it somewhere more than likely.

Yeah. A pole and a big beer chest.

McMurray: Yeah! (laughing heartily). No doubt! So no, probably not going to go to Sterling for any advice on decorating.

So what else do you have going on outside the racecar? Doing anything new, fun? Hobbies?

McMurray: No. Right now I'm just trying to get all this stuff finalized for our Busch program next year, have some exciting stuff going to happen there that I think we're going to get to announce. Some really cool stuff. That deal's fun.

That's what's going on right now, just staying busy. Honestly, with racing, in the last two or three months I've learned a lot being around Rusty about the business side of racing and dealing with sponsors and fans. He's been a really good guy for me to be around, because he's been around for a long time and has done it all.

He's one of those guys, man, I look up to him right now for advice on how to deal with sponsors and fans and the business side of the sport.

Rusty Wallace has more sponsors on his sleeves than Jeff Gordon or anyone else, and I've watched the way he deals with them and someone really good to look at and try to be like.

Plus he's fielding fast cars. You're wheeling the fire out of that thing.

McMurray: Yeah. Rusty definitely has the best equipment in the Busch Series. And he's one of those guys that if I tell him, 'Hey, I think this is what I think we need to go get,' whether it's brakes, no matter what it is, he'll go buy it.

He's like, 'Hey man, if it's in our budget we'll go get it.' And I haven't found anything that isn't in the budget yet. That's what you want to hear from a car owner. If you need it, we'll go buy it. So, good guy.

Do you see him being a Cup owner someday?

McMurray: He already is. He owns three Cup teams right now with Penske. I don't think he has intentions of turning his Busch program into a Cup team, because owns -- I don't now what the percentage is, exactly -- 25 percent or whatever, of Penske Racing, with his car, Ryan's (Newman) car and Brendan's (Gaughan)car.

So he already owns some Cup teams, and the Busch deal is something he and Patty started from scratch and it's something they're going to build up. One day you'll see Stephen in that car.

That's interesting. I forget that Rusty has that kind of stake in Penske. What about you? Any aspirations for Jamie McMurray Racing?

McMurray: Yeah, I ate dinner with Felix (Sabates) last Monday, and he asked me what my future plans were. I mentioned something to him about maybe starting a Truck team or Busch team.

I thought he was going to slap me. He was like, 'Why do you want to waste your money?' But yeah, I think that's something one day I'd want to be involved in.

But at the same time, it's something I don't want to spend my own money on. If I can find a sponsor that's willing to do it with me and that we can take care of each other and both be happy, then yeah, definitely.

It's hard when you're a racer not to want to own a race team, or be involved in that. It's a different side of it other than driving. You know, I watch Kevin (Harvick) and Rusty, and they really enjoy the teams they own because it's a different side of it. I'm as much a racer as those guys are, and I think it'd be cool one day.