 | | Jamie McMurray says he will seek advice from teammates like Carl Edwards, left, and Mark Martin. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
January 27, 2006
11:22 AM EST (16:22 GMT)
Things are different for Jamie McMurray these days. After he signed what amounted to be a letter of intent to drive for Jack Roush in 2007, the door opened early when Roush parted ways with Kurt Busch following last season. Busch moved to Penske, McMurray moved to Roush, and the whole driver carousel began spinning round and round.  |  | | Credit: Autostock |
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| Inside the Numbers |
| Jamie McMurray in 2005 |
| Wins |
0 |
| Top-5s |
4 |
| Top-10s |
10 |
| DNFs |
4 |
| Poles |
1 |
| Laps Led |
39 |
| Avg. Start |
21.4 |
| Avg. Finish |
16.8 |
| Earnings |
$3,870,168 |
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But moving to a new team isn't the only change McMurray has lined up. He's got new wheels: McMurray drove a Dodge for Chip Ganassi his entire Cup career. Now he'll switch to a Ford, albeit a new Fusion, which puts him on the same learning curve as everybody else in the blue oval camp. He's got new threads: Since 2003, McMurray sported the black and red Texaco/Havoline colors, made famous by the late Davey Allison. This year, however, he'll have a new Roush look in the Irwin Tools/Crown Royal ride. And he'll switch to a brand new No. 26, as Roush Racing has shed all traces of Busch's old No. 97 team. Perhaps most importantly, however, McMurray has new weight on his shoulders. He joins a lineup that includes Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, all of whom made the Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2005. Together they share 58 career wins and a title. "Obviously, all of my teammates won races last year, and the car that I'm in won races last year," McMurray said, "so yeah, I've thought about that a lot. I've thought, 'What if you go halfway through the season and you don't win a race or you go all year and don't win.' But I've thought that for the last three years, so it's not really any different." McMurray's only win came when he subbed for the injured Sterling Marlin at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2002, just his second appearance in a Cup car. Since then, he's had 19 top-fives and 48 top-10s but has yet to return to Victory Lane. He aims to change that. |  | ALSO | |
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McMurray inherits a car that claimed 14 victories in four years and the 2004 Nextel Cup championship. It also made last year's Chase, an accomplishment McMurray has fallen short of the past two years with finishes of 11th and 12th. He had a 13th-place finish in 2003, the year prior to the playoff. He plans on changing that, too, and his success lies in his own hands, according to championship-winning crew chief Jimmy Fennig. The first time the two met to discuss the team's future, Fennig told his driver there would be races McMurray would have a dominant car and races when the crew would have to work to make it better. Fennig's point: McMurray is going to have good equipment, and it's up to him to take advantage of it. "We hadn't even been to a test yet, and he already assumes that," McMurray said, "because he knows that the cars are great and that he's assembled a great group of people." Despite all the changes since last year, McMurray hopes to be part of that great group. "I kind of have the same feeling going into this season as I did in 2003 after winning at Charlotte and with the wins that Sterling had," he said. "It's somewhat like Matt [Kenseth] said, when you know that you have cars that are capable of winning, you just have to do your part and work with your team and put yourself in the right position, so I'm very optimistic about the season." | 
