When it's needed the most, McMurray finding his speed

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Faced with an unfamiliar, adverse situation as a go-or-go-home driver sitting outside the top 35 in points, Jamie McMurray responded to the challenge Friday by qualifying his car fifth at Martinsville Speedway, and backed it up Saturday by being the fastest Ford on the track in final Sprint Cup practice.

McMurray, a winner at Daytona last season, has struggled to find much success this season. But the Roush Fenway Racing driver has always been fairly strong at Martinsville.

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"It's always been a really good place for me," said McMurray, who was second-fastest in final practice at 95.256 mph. In 10 starts he has posted six top-10 finishes at the .526-mile track.

The No. 26 Ford driver said when you unload the car and it's good, it will be good all weekend.

"If you unload badly, its hard to make it better," said McMurray, who brought with him a new chassis and a renewed sense of self coming after the Easter weekend break.

Of his struggling season where his highest finish was 22nd in Fontana, Calif., McMurray recalled some advice veteran and past champion Rusty Wallace gave him.

"When I was having a great season, 2004 and 2005, and Rusty was having a tough season, he still always stayed positive," McMurray said. "On the plane, he was always in a good mood and I never understood how he could do it."

With that, McMurray is remaining optimistic and is looking for a strong finish Sunday to put him back in the top 35 along with his teammates Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and David Ragan.

"You're going to have bad years, you just try to do your best," McMurray said.

And speaking of best, Jeff Gordon topped the speed chart above McMurray in final practice with a speed of 95.439 mph. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the morning practice session, posting a speed of 95.299 mph.

Other than that, both practice sessions went off without incident Saturday, but not without rain.

Cars took the track at 11:30 a.m. ET only to be ushered off when light rain began to fall on the track, cutting the session more than 10 minutes short.