Jamie McMurray hasn't visited Victory Lane since October 2002 when he won in just his second Nextel Cup start. Credit: Autostock

McMurray frustrated with sluggish start to season

FT. WORTH, Tex. -- Jamie McMurray doesn't much care for qualifying. In fact, he hates it. He sees comfort in the fact that Matt Kenseth won a championship despite starting in the middle of the pack each week.

And over 500 miles on a 1.5-mile oval like Texas, McMurray knows he has his work cut out for him. Speaking of Kenseth, McMurray is a realist -- he says the Roush and Hendrick camps are clearly the best on the aero tracks.

McMurray comes to this weekend's Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at a bit of a crossroads.

	Slow Start Jamie McMurray in 2005 Race Start Finish Daytona 17 32 California 15 4 Las Vegas 22 15 Atlanta 13 11 Bristol 17 24 Martinsville 29 25

He's had only one top-10 finish this year (Fontana) and expected to make up major ground at the short tracks, but after experiencing tire problems at both Bristol and Martinsville, he was left with with nothing but disappointment.

It won't get any easier this weekend. Knowing the team was not up to snuff on the downforce tracks, crew chief Donnie Wingo took the team's Atlanta car -- which handled terribly -- and cut the body off.

The car has already run three races this year, as McMurray and Wingo have a habit of using the same chassis over and over. It worked in 2004, but the results have been mixed this year.

Time will tell if Wingo's new Texas skin will work on the Dodge. Wingo and McMurray rarely tries to qualify well. They typically spend 90 percent of the pre-qualifying practice in race trim, so they will wait for Sunday to see if they can compete.

Still, McMurray is frustrated. The new Dodge Charger has only turned in five top-fives this year. McMurray is already 323 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and faces an uphill climb in his bid to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

McMurray, winless since his second Nextel Cup start, thought he was kept out of Victory Lane in 2004 because of lackluster engines and pit stops.

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But Chip Ganassi Racing fixed those issues over the winter. At Atlanta, McMurray's engine was tested and had more power than anyone else. McMurray also says that his pit stops this year have been much better.

But the luck hasn't been there.

"Last year, if we had tire trouble, somebody would blow a tire right when we would and we would be able to pit," McMurray said. "This year, we are the guy blowing the tire and getting the caution for everyone else.

"We went to Goodyear and showed them the tires. It was not camber or air pressure. There is nothing we can do as a team to help the problem, so we have to keep digging."

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There is little doubt that McMurray will run better as the season progresses, but he will have to do it while constantly asking questions about his status at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Sterling Marlin, McMurray's teammate, said last week at Martinsville that he was already exploring options for 2006, and the rumor domino effect has already reached McMurray.

"I already see the stuff on the Internet that I am going to the 40 car. I can tell you I haven't heard that from the horse's mouth," McMurray said. "I don't see Havoline letting me go drive the 40 car."

It's not anything McMurray hasn't been through before. During most of the second half of 2004, McMurray had to constantly ask questions about his job status for 2005. Most of the talk had him bolting to Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 11 entry, which eventually went to Jason Leffler.

The talk didn't hurt his performance, as McMurray was one of the most consistent drivers down the stretch.

"I know a lot of people when that happens, they start running worse because their mind's not in it," McMurray said. "I read that, I laugh, I go on. My team does not focus on that either."

For the time being, McMurray just wants to run better on the intermediate tracks. He knows it won't be easy.

"These tracks, you got to be a great driver, but you have to have a car that is capable of doing it," McMurray said. "I won Charlotte and wasn't the best driver at the time."

"Everyone is trying to catch up."