Jamie McMurray: "We struggled in the pits again. We really had a tough time in the pits, but other than that the car was pretty good." Credit: Autostock

McMurray battles illness, pit troubles for top-10

DOVER, Del. -- Jamie McMurray isn't one of the drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. On Sunday at Dover, he continued a streak that may make some people believe he should be.

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McMurray finished eighth in the MBNA America 400, his sixth consecutive top-10 finish. What's more, he did it despite not feeling well.

"I don't know what was wrong. I didn't sleep well," McMurray said. "The guys next to us had a little party outside my motor home last night. I was up late and for some reason I woke up at 5:30."

McMurray knew just how bad it was early in the race.

"We started 10th and when I got to sixth I felt worse," he said chuckling. "That's when I knew something was wrong."

MBNA 400 Videos Victory Lane Ryan Newman celebrates after leading 325 laps and winning at Dover Red Flag Matt Kenseth loses control entering pit road and jumps the retaining wall Double Whammy Brian Vickers tears up the front and back end of his car on Lap 48 Early Exit Kasey Kahne has engine troubles just 13 laps into the race Hard Hit J. Burton blows a tire, slams into the wall and his car starts on fire

Still, McMurray says his physical condition didn't stop and his team from having a good day.

"All in all it was a pretty good day," he said. "We struggled in the pits again. We really had a tough time in the pits, but other than that the car was pretty good."

Despite that, Sunday was clearly a battle for the No. 42 bunch. For about a fourth of Sunday's race, McMurray was outside the top 10.

"We seem to pass more cars every weekend than anybody else," McMurray said. "We go to the back and work our way back to the front, but it was a pretty good finish.

Sunday's effort was McMurray's 17th top-10 finish in 28 Nextel Cup starts this season, the most among drivers not named Jeff Gordon. Had it not been for a 25-point penalty earlier in the season at Bristol, he'd be one of the drivers racing for the Cup.

Still, while McMurray isn't in the Chase, he says his goal goes beyond just getting the 11th-place money at the Nextel Cup Awards Ceremony in New York. "It would be pretty cool to score the most points out of anyone in the last 10 races and show you deserve to be there."

McMurray says his team has some work to do to achieve such a lofty goal.

"We're about a sixth-to-10th-place car right now and we need to step it up to be a top-five car.

"It would be cool to get to go to the banquet and feel like you earned your way there (by finishing 11th in the standings). We'll just keep digging and doing what we're doing."