Luck, late rally lead McMurray to top five

LAS VEGAS -- Michael Waltrip's bad luck turned into a boon for Jamie McMurray.

Waltrip's crash on lap 166 of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 saved McMurray from going a lap down, and McMurray rallied to finish fourth. It was his second straight top-five finish.

The run sent McMurray into the top 10 in the standings despite opening the season with a crash-marred finish at Daytona.

LAS VEGAS Kenseth celebrates his second consecutive victory Play video Kenseth and Kahne finish 1-2 again at Las Vegas Play video Kenseth and Stewart battle for the lead Play video Michael Waltrip backs it into the Turn 4 wall Play video Junior struggles early and heads for the garage Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

McMurray is the first to admit he was lucky on three fronts.

Early in the event, McMurray attempted to get around Kurt Busch on the outside of the unforgiving 12-degree banking at Las Vegas. Simply put, it didn't work -- he got into the marbles and kissed the wall.

But if the banking was unforgiving, the wall was a little more laid back. McMurray's No. 42 Dodge didn't suffer a tire rub -- just some flattened sheet metal on the right side

"I tried to creep up on the outside of (Busch)," McMurray said. "I don't know if he didn't know I was there, but I got in the marbles and got in the wall. (The crew) put four new tires on it and the car was pretty much as good as it was earlier."

But McMurray has lost a ton of track position, and Matt Kenseth's dominant car was threatening to put him a lap down.

McMurray's team, Chip Ganassi Racing, has met before the event to decide strategy -- and they knew that caution flags don't come that often at Las Vegas.

But Waltrip's crash saved him.

"You have to have luck, for sure, to stay on the lead lap," McMurray said. "I think we were within 10 seconds of going a lap down and the way the car was driving, it was going to happen."

	Jamie McMurray's No. 42 Dodge finished 4.342 seconds behind winner Matt Kenseth. Credit: Autostock

Fuel was also an issue, because the final 59 laps were run under green.

"The engineer said we were good, but you never know if (the fuel cell) is packed full," McMurray said. "At the very end, I was going to let the 9 (Kasey Kahne) and the 20 (Tony Stewart) go, and when I started letting off early, I started catching them again."

McMurray and fifth-place finisher Mark Martin were the two quickest cars on the track at the end.

"We were the best we had been all day the last 60 laps," McMurray said. "Right there at the end, we were the best car."