Jamie McMurray hopes he has more runs like he did at Dover two weeks ago. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: McMurray

Driver of No. 26 says winning races would be better than Chase

Jamie McMurray might argue that he would rather have turned the corner sooner during his first season as driver of Roush Racing's No. 26 Ford Fusion.

Jamie McMurray has led 120 laps this season. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Jamie McMurray's 2006 results Race Start Finish Status Daytona 6 37 crash California 25 6 running Las Vegas 19 23 running Atlanta 34 14 running Bristol 8 35 running Martinsville 2 9 running Texas 41 37 running Phoenix 26 14 running Talladega 8 5 running Richmond 31 19 running Darlington 15 42 engine Charlotte 33 8 running Dover 9 2 running Pocono 8 18 running Average 18.9 19.2   Added pressureJamie McMurray explains how expectations have changed since moving to Roush Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

While McMurray started 2006 with the same owner points that Kurt Busch accrued last season when the car wore No. 97, the team isn't the same group that Busch won the 2004 Nextel Cup championship with or finished 10th with last season.

McMurray, who won his only Cup race in 2002, when he substituted for Sterling Marlin at Chip Ganassi Racing, has turned it on since being paired with crew chief Bob Osborne seven races ago.

In that stretch McMurray has only one finish outside the top 20, three top-10 finishes -- including a season-best second at Dover, where he led 95 laps -- and has moved up seven positions in the standings, to 14th.

McMurray sat down to talk about what it's like racing with team owner Jack Roush, the turnaround engineered by Osborne and his hopes for the short-term future.

Q: How does the reality of this season compare to your expectations?

McMurray: It's different at Roush because all of your teammates are running and contending for championships. Jack has been -- I don't know if I'd say my biggest cheerleader -- but he has made it very clear to me that even when we weren't running well, he said, 'Jamie, I don't feel like you're any part of our problem. As a team and as an organization we just need to figure out what you need in the cars.'

That made me feel good as a driver, to have your car owner come to you and kind of give you that reassurance.

Q: What did your second-place finish at Dover, and almost winning that race, mean for your team?

McMurray: That was big for us. Obviously, all of my teammates have run so well this year and the pressure has been on our team a little bit just to get up to the same level as what those guys are running at.

So, it was good for us to get out and have a good run and legitimately have a shot to win a race. It's been, like, three years since I felt like I had a chance to win a race. So it felt good.

Q: After three races with Bob Osborne, you said you were enjoying the experience. With the passage of time it seems to be getting even better, so is that the case?

McMurray: Our results the first few races didn't really show how well we ran. Phoenix was really good and at Richmond I think we ended up 19th or 20th [but] we had a really good car. It's just all the Roush cars had to pit because of our fuel mileage, so we ended up a lap down.

Since Bob Osborne became Jamie McMurray's crew chief, the team has three top-10 finishes. Credit: Autostock

CHANGES AT ROUSH Roush Racing has moved crew chief Bob Osborne from Carl Edwards' No. 99 team to the No. 26 team of Jamie McMurray.  •   Complete story, click here Carl Edwards views the decision to switch crew chiefs as a way to help Jamie McMurray get his first season at Roush jump-started.  •   Complete story, click here Jamie McMurray said he and Jimmy Fennig were on the same page, which makes his slow start that much more infuriating.  •   Complete story, click here

It's been really good with Bob. I enjoy working with him, and he has a little bit different approach. The biggest thing is [Pocono was] one of the first races that we brought the same car back to a track that we were excited about.

It's the same car that I ran sixth with at Fontana. I ran eighth with it at Charlotte. It's been a pretty good car for us.

That was one of the tougher situations when I moved to Roush, was we didn't have a car that we're like, 'This has been a very good car for us.' We didn't have any history with anything.

So, we're finally getting to where you pick favorite cars and you have certain body types that you like. Really, the first car for us that Bob has built is going to be at Michigan, so I'm excited to bring that out.

It's been a lot of fun working with Bob, and certainly our performance has turned around in the last month.

Q: Do you think the races at Pocono should be reduced from 500 miles?

McMurray: [Pocono] is a long race for us. Pocono is a fun racetrack. I like coming [to Pocono because] it's fun, it's different [and] it's not like anywhere else that we go.

But it is a very long race and of all the races I've run [at Pocono], when it's over, I thought it would've been just as good at 400 miles as it was 500. So I think that would be great.

Some of the places we go, there's obviously a lot of history and tradition with the Coca-Cola 600. But [Pocono] is a place that if it was 400 miles I don't think that anyone would complain about that.

Q: Do you consider Pocono's Tunnel Turn one of the toughest turns in NASCAR?

McMurray: That's my favorite turn [at Pocono]. I always seem to excel in the Tunnel Turn in relation to other cars. It seems like you can pass better if your car's good [so] I always try to make my car good across that.

	Jimmy Fennig started as Jamie McMurray's crew chief, but owner Jack Roush moved Fennig into a role with his Busch Series program. Credit: Autostock
	ROUSH BACKS FENNIG Owner Jack Roush said that Jimmy Fennig will return one day as a crew chief in his Nextel Cup organization.  •   Complete story, click here

I think that the hardest turn in our sport is Turn 3 and 4 at Darlington. That seems to be the one that always gets a hold of everybody. I like that racetrack also, but I think that's the most challenging turn.

Q: What differences do you notice between your first Roush crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, and Bob Osborne? Was Jimmy more old school?

McMurray: I think that's a perception of what everyone thought Jimmy was, but Jimmy wasn't old school. He was about trying new things and wanting to make things work, and it was unfortunate that that didn't work out.

I think that was maybe other things went on inside the organization that I didn't know about. It wasn't that Bob came over and all of a sudden we did all these new-school things.

It's kind of hard for me to sit here and explain, but there's not a big difference in the stuff that we're trying. It just seems that maybe the communication is a little bit better with Bob and myself throughout the race.

[Jimmie Johnson] showed [at Dover] that if you don't start out good, that there's a possibility you might make your car better throughout the race.

It's one of the biggest challenges that any of the drivers face throughout the weekend is that if you don't start out good at the start of the race to adjust on your car and maybe use pit strategy to get up front.

That's where [Jimmy and I] were really lacking. We weren't making the right adjustments to the car throughout the race, and that's where our performance has gained so much in the last month or two is that if we don't start out great, we're able to get our car better throughout the race.

Q: When you moved to Roush Racing, did you expect to do well right away, as many people did?

McMurray: I thought the same thing. You always think, 'If I could just get in his car, I could do that.' But the thing that I didn't know, because I didn't know anyone on the 97 team, was that really the team that we have now, I think there's one or two people left on my team right now that were there when Kurt won the championship -- or even last year.

Some of them have moved up to be Busch crew chiefs or they were just moved around and if they are on the team they're in a different position than what they were. It's not the same team that Kurt had a couple of years ago.

This is a huge people sport and it's all about being a team and it takes a while for everyone to get used to working with each other.

When I stepped into Sterling's car a few years ago, Sterling's team had won a race two months earlier, and that's a different situation than what I stepped into with the 26, because we're kind of rebuilding the team.

Even today we're still trying to get everyone in the right place, to get your pit crew to where it's the same level as everybody else's. Bob and Jack [Roush] are still rebuilding our entire team to get it back to where it was when they won the championship.

	Jamie McMurray led 95 laps at Dover before finishing second to Matt Kenseth. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Jamie McMurray's career stats Starts 128 Wins 1 Top-5s 21 Top-10s 53 Poles 2 Avg. Start 18.2 Avg. Finish 16.6 Laps Led 600 Earnings $15,327,020 Driven to WinDespite limited athletic skills, McMurray enjoys a tennis match with Anna Kournikova Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Q: What's your main focus in the run to the Chase for the Nextel Cup: Winning races or making the Chase?

McMurray: I think if you win races then you'll make the Chase. When I look at some of the guys that aren't in the Chase -- Greg [Biffle] and Carl [Edwards], you're looking at second and third in the points last year.

There are some really tough guys that you're going to have to beat to make it into the top 10. For me right now, from Charlotte up to the Chase, that's some of my best racetracks and it's the time of the year when I run the best.

You just have to continue to run well and run in the top five or the top 10 every week and you'll make [the Chase]. That's the same goal that everyone else has.

Honestly, I would probably give up making the Chase to win a couple of races this year, because it's been so long since I've won.

We've had a lot small things go wrong this year, but the races that we finished we've run well in and it's certainly been better for the last month. Making the Chase would be a huge deal for me because I've been so close, but like I say, I would give up making the Chase to win some races.

Q: When you finally win another race, will it be like that first win at Charlotte was for you?

McMurray: I think so. I told everyone for like a year after Charlotte, 'There'll never be another win like that.' Then another year went by and I thought maybe there would be.

If a month ago you would've told me I would've run second at Dover and legitimately had a shot to win, I would've called you crazy. So that's a big improvement for our team.

Q: Since it's been so long since you won, 126 races, do you think you'll appreciate it more than the first win?

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McMurray: I know I will -- most definitely. When I won in Sterling's car, I hadn't won a Busch race or Truck race or anything. It was overwhelming and it was such a tough situation to be in when you're not even in your car.

Any driver who lets someone else get in the car, whether you're at a test or anything, you don't want to see them do as well as you can, so it's so hard to really just express yourself.

I was trying to be really careful with Sterling. It was his car, he had won in it and gosh, this young kid gets in it and wins. I know what that would feel like for me right now if I got hurt and they put somebody in who had never won and all of sudden he can win in my car.

So, certainly, to be able to win in my own car and it's been so long and I've learned how hard it is to win one of these races, it will be better than my first. I know that.