Jamie McMurray's last top-10 finish came at Watkins Glen. Credit: Autostock

McMurray's frustration continues at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- When Jamie McMurray broke through with a near-win at Dover in June, many thought his season had received a major shot in the arm.

Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

He finished second that day when Matt Kenseth passed him with a few laps to go. It was McMurray's third top-10 finish in five races, but the good runs masked problems that would send McMurray into the most frustrating summer of his life.

Stats at a Glance Jamie McMurray's 2007 season Race Start Finish Reason 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 Lowe's 33 8 running Dover 9 2 running Pocono 8 18 running Michigan 41 23 running Infineon 2 18 running Daytona 26 8 running Chicagoland 42 39 running New Hampshire 33 33 running Pocono 28 20 running Indianapolis 18 26 running Watkins Glen 24 3 running Michigan 40 17 running Bristol 37 29 running California 31 20 running Richmond 30 25 running New Hampshire 42 29 running Dover 32 17 running Kansas 41 42 crash Talladega 8 37 crash

"I read that after Dover, 'Oh, it has turned around,' but I knew that we hadn't turned it around. The car that we ran at Dover wasn't even that good of a car," McMurray said. "The wind tunnel numbers were really bad and below average for what we produce now.

"We didn't take the same car even back to Dover (in September) because it really wasn't even that good a car. We just certainly have a lot of work to do."

Low points have been in abundance for the No. 26 Ford all season, but things were especially bad at New Hampshire. Loudon is one of McMurray's best tracks, and it was embarrassing for him when he qualified 42nd, one spot behind Morgan Shepherd.

"Bristol and Loudon are some of my favorite tracks, always seemed to be able to get a top 10 finish, and we struggled bad," McMurray said. "We ran horrible at those places. At the intermediate tracks, we have been like a 15th- to 20th-place car and there have been times where we are a 35th-place car and not had anything wrong."

Sunday's event at Talladega was a rare moment this season -- McMurray led 22 laps -- but the result was the same. His car began to overheat mid-race and McMurray was forced to drop to the back. The Big One came a few laps later, sending him to a 37th-place finish.

The crash dropped McMurray to 22nd in the standings, his lowest point since Bristol in the spring. It was his eighth straight finish of 17th or worse.

It is no secret that team owner Jack Roush will make major changes to his organization, and McMurray's team will undoubtedly look different by the time the Daytona 500 rolls around.

"When things don't go well, you have to make changes," McMurray said. "You just can't go into next season just like you are, you'll run the same way. There is getting ready to be changes made, but there will be a little bit of change-up, more than just my team at Roush."

Roush Racing was dominant in 2005 -- placing all five of its teams in the Chase -- but other teams have caught up, most notably Richard Childress Racing. Roush tried to combat that early in the season by switching crew chiefs on McMurray's and Carl Edwards' teams.

"The other teams just caught up to where [Roush] were on a lot of things," McMurray said. "They tell me our cars are actually better now, downforce-wise, chassis are better, just everyone else has caught us and passed us.

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"It sucks to be a part of an organization when things aren't going perfect, especially when the year before, they were so great, but the good side of that, you look at RCR or some of these other teams, and you go back and work hard and eventually you get to be back on top, and I look forward to that."

McMurray either started driving for Roush a year too late or a year too early, depending on how one looks at it. He left Ganassi with the impression that he would replace Mark Martin in the No. 6 Ford, but when Kurt Busch unexpectedly left the team, Roush installed McMurray in Busch's old ride.

McMurray was sure he would make the Chase with Roush. He had narrowly missed NASCAR's playoff in 2004 and 2005, and McMurray envisioned a repeat of his epochal 2004 season, when he scored 23 top-10 finishes.

"I really thought moving over here wasn't going to be lot easier, but I'd get into the Chase," McMurray said. "We have struggled terribly bad, we have sometimes had cars that you couldn't run in the top 30 with and run all day and not be tore up.

"It is very frustrating and I go back to my motorhome after a bad day or a race and you lay in bed and try to figure out how to make it better, you just don't know what to do."

Even without the looming crew changes, 2007 will be a different mindset for all teams, not just Roush. The Car of Tomorrow, scheduled to debut at Bristol next spring, will require completely new setups. That is fine with McMurray, who has fought balky cars all season.

"Going into next year, my mindset understands what we need to do," McMurray said. "Next year, with the Car of Tomorrow, you're limited with what you can change. I think it will be easier next year because I kind of understand how things work at Roush."

McMurray hopes to run Busch races for Roush next year -- he spent this season running Busch races for Rusty Wallace, who runs a Dodge. Running on Saturdays didn't help his car for Sundays, but McMurray said that his good runs in Wallace's car (eight top-10s in 18 starts) helped his confidence.

"That car has run good this year, so that makes me feel better," he said.

Confidence aside, neutrality within the cars has been the main problem. His machines on Sunday were too tight to open the 2006 season, and after Roush built new cars to alleviate the problem, the cars became too loose.

"We just have not had a good balance in our cars," McMurray said. "We have built new cars with completely different bodies, and the cars at the beginning of the year were always loose, and some of the new cars we have built with a lot more downforce and a lot more rear balance wise, you just unload and you just fight to make it turn the entire weekend.

"Eventually you'll get to where you make it turn, and it is too loose."

McMurray last scored a top-10 in August, when he was third at Watkins Glen. Bad results followed, and things reached a head at Kansas when McMurray spun early in the race. He finished 42nd after running only 128 laps.

Eventually, McMurray grew tired of answering all the questions about team struggles.

"It has been very, very frustrating," McMurray said. "I have done some of these interviews, where they ask you that question, and it is tough. It is hard when you race every single week to show up when you have not had good weeks."