Picturesque New England could turn ugly for some (cont'd)

"I hate that we had to run that well the entire race and then finish like we did. It's one of those deals where you take the gamble and hope for the best. The gamble didn't pay off for us in the end. Hopefully, this weekend we can put ourselves in a better position, where it isn't such a gamble at the end."

It has been 163 races since Jamie McMurray won at Charlotte in just his second career start. Oops, better make that 164 after Sonoma. Can you imagine the roller-coaster ride of emotions he must have gone through in the closing laps of that race? And then to have it finish like that? Interviewing Jamie at that point would have been like running onto a baseball field and interviewing the player that just got thrown out at home plate in the bottom of the ninth to end the game. You'll never see that in Major League Baseball. But we have come to expect it in major-league racing.

I can't wait to talk to Jamie McMurray this week at Loudon. He is sincere, funny, and is one of the most honest drivers in the garage. In the past he has told me why he thinks things are not going well and what the team is doing to improve. The team was scheduled to test in Milwaukee before heading to New Hampshire and McMurray sounds optimistic about this week.

"I'm looking forward to another run this weekend in Loudon," McMurray said.

"Last year we just weren't very good up there, but I think with the new car we are taking, it should be a pretty good weekend for us. So far this season we've done pretty well with the COT and especially in qualifying. [Crew chief] Larry [Carter] has done a great job with learning the aspects of this new car and making it work for me."

All the guys say they are looking forward to going to Loudon; not all of them are telling the truth. This track has frustrated many drivers since the day it opened; others can't wait to come rolling through the gate.

"I enjoy running at New Hampshire. The track has been kind to me in the past," said Kurt Busch, a two-time New Hampshire winner who is trying to get back into the Chase picture.

"With the run we do need to make, it's a good place to get started. We just need to find little things here and there every week that have hampered our progress.

"It's been an interesting season thus far. We've had some great success. Almost won a race at Texas, Phoenix, Daytona, led the most laps at Charlotte. So good things all around, but we just need to start putting exclamation points at the end of these races so we can come home in the top five and gather the points that we think we deserve."

That's the difference between racing against the "Chasers" and just being in a race with them, the "almost" factor. "Almost" in racing is like the "almost" in life; for example, "I almost made my flight." Sounds good but in reality it means I missed my flight and I'm stuck sitting around a dingy airport waiting for the next plane, or in racing, the next race.

"I like New Hampshire; it's one of my favorite tracks," Carl Edwards said. "It's flat and fast and it puts a lot of things in the driver's hands. Unfortunately we didn't have the best finish last weekend at Sonoma [18th], so it will be really important for us to run well at Loudon. We had a really strong run there last year in the summer, so hopefully we'll be able to repeat that success."

This past July, Edwards almost got to make the trip to Victory Lane, but he finished second. That is his only top-10 finish in five races at New Hampshire.

Tony Stewart finished 37th at New Hampshire this past July, but he almost won this past September, finishing second to Kevin Harvick in the first Chase race of the 2006 season. He has finished second or better in three of the past four races at New Hampshire. What's the magic to getting around the "Magic Mile"?

"It's a big motor deal," said Stewart, another two-time winner at New Hampshire. (Continued)