McMurray gets another top-10 despite bad tire

LOUDON, N.H. -- As the laps wound down in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Jamie McMurray knew he had a good car, just needed reassurance it was trustworthy.

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Enter Andy Graves, Ganassi Racing team manager.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," McMurray said to Graves on pit road following his fifth place finish. "Just so you know, I didn't want to ask. But I wanted somebody to tell me it was going to be okay."

McMurray's concern centered on his left front tire, which he inadvertently flat spotted entering his pit stall on the race's final green flag stop. He feared it wouldn't hold up for the final 20 laps.

"I was really worried about it blowing out. I was trying to baby it. I needed some reassurance, and I kept hinting around and no one would say anything," McMurray said, chuckling.

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"Finally Andy came on and said, 'Don't worry about it. They always feel bad.' And I thought, 'Hell, whether he knows that's the truth or not, it sounds good to me right now.' Made me feel better."

With solace that the car beneath him was stable, McMurray battled to his fifth consecutive top 10 finish overall, and his third top 10 in four career races at New Hampshire.

It was a long road to the top-five.

"We kept adjusting on the car. We left a lugnut off, and I had to go all the way to the back at one point. I about wrecked in (Turn) three trying to pass (Carl Edwards) on the outside.

"Donnie (Wingo, crew chief) put two tires on and that gave us good track position, but I flat-spotted the left front really bad coming in for my green flag stop and we weren't as good there at the end.

"We came from the back twice. We pulled some rubbers out of the right rear and we fought back and passed a lot of cars. We adjusted on the car and got it better, and that's always good when you can do that.

"When you've got those guys racing with 10 to go, they're really racing you hard. I think two tires probably hurt us at the end, but when those guys have four tires they're a little bit better and there's not a lot you can do about it."

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McMurray's 16 top 10s this season tie him with Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth for second most in the Nextel Cup Series. Jeff Gordon's 19 top 10s lead the way.

Each driver on that list is in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. McMurray believes he belongs in the Chase, too.

"I think we feel like we belong in that top 10 chase, but all you can do is try to win races and get ready for next year," McMurray said. "But we knew the rules at the beginning of the year.

"We had too many problems throughout the season to get to be in the top 10. It was close, but obviously we're running in the top-five, top 10. I felt like we deserved to be there."