Jamie McMurray's move to Roush Racing hasn't gone quite as planned. Credit: Autostock

McMurray should have stayed home, he admits

Multiple changes in young driver's career haven't gone as planned

CONCORD, N.C. -- For all that has happened to Jamie McMurray this season, a weekend spent racing in the Nextel All-Star Challenge is not exactly what the doctor ordered.

As a result, McMurray himself said that he didn't really deserve to be in the race, and that qualifies him as the driver who should have stayed home this weekend.

Jamie McMurray's only Cup victory came at Lowe's Motor Speedway Credit: Autostock

ALL-STAR COVERAGE •   Nextel Open Lineup •   All-Star Challenge Lineup •   Vote in the Wildcard •   Complete Coverage 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

"Our car is not very good," McMurray said after qualifying 15th out of 18 cars for the Challenge. "We've struggled from the time we unloaded here, so we've got a lot of work to do."

McMurray came to Roush Racing at the beginning of the season, a year earlier than his contract with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates said he could. The way his season has gone so far, it calls into question exactly what the rush was.

That he's in the Challenge at all is because of Kurt Busch, who bolted Roush Racing for Penske Racing South and set the whole merry-go-round that brought McMurray to Roush in the first place.

"Honestly, my opinion is that I'm not really deserving to be in it [the All-Star Challenge]," McMurray said. "I haven't won a race since 2002, but my sponsors are and the race team is because they won last year with Kurt. We're going to go out and do everything we can, but we certainly need to work on it so I can be in it next year with my car."

Sounds like McMurray is resigned to the fact that the $1 million is going to someone else, which is never the way you want your driver feeling before a race, points on the line or not.

The fact that his lone career Cup victory came at Lowe's Motor Speedway in fall 2002 as the substitute for Sterling Marlin is not playing the role it should in McMurray's doom-and-gloom. He won that race fair and square, and it whetted his appetite for more, but he's gone hungry since then.

It's not like McMurray forgot how to drive or the No. 26/97 team forgot how to win. It's just they haven't quite figured out how to do it together.

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New crew chief Bob Osborne, who came over from Carl Edwards' team during the last off weekend at Easter, is a different breed of cat than Jimmy Fennig, who led Busch to the title in 2004, and that seems to have been a good change.

McMurray has run well at times -- he was bad fast at Bristol and Martinsville -- but hasn't been able to put 500 miles together as of yet. Perhaps he's feeling that pain now.

McMurray doesn't believe he should be in the race, so he shouldn't be. He's not running well -- always a concern to a driver -- and seems to have no way to fix it.

Perhaps a night off to contemplate would help.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.