For four drivers, '09 finale more than end to season

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The checkered flag at the end of Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway put the final punctuation mark on the 2009 season, but it also ended a chapter in the careers of at least four drivers in the field.

Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and Reed Sorenson drove what most likely will be the last race for their respective teams, with varying degrees of success. While Truex survived the Tony Stewart-Juan Montoya dustup to score a ninth-place finish, McMurray and Mears finished in the middle of the pack and Sorenson was caught up in a strange multi-car accident on pit road.

Truex

Truex couldn't avoid Montoya's car after he cut his right-side tires after tangling with Stewart on the backstretch. And for the rest of the race, Truex struggled to keep the car off the wall.

"It wasn't as good after that," Truex said. "That's the story of our year. We have good cars and something like that happens. It's frustrating but the guys did good. I drove my guts out. I'm disappointed more than anything, last race together and all."

Truex has never driven for another team since making his Cup debut in 2004, so he had mixed feelings about climbing from the cockpit of the No. 1 Chevrolet for the final time.

"It's bittersweet," Truex said. "I'm excited about the future opportunities, but at the same time, it's hard to leave these guys. We've done a lot together, been together a long time and I've got a lot of respect for what they've been able to do for me in my career. We'll still be friends and hopefully they'll go on to great things and we will, too."

Truex is moving over to Michael Waltrip's Toyota operation for 2010, so the first task at hand will be getting acclimated.

"I imagine I'll be getting right back at it," Truex said. "We're working on the No. 56 car, putting that group together, getting to know them and then doing some testing. So we'll get back at it."

McMurray

McMurray, who wound up 18th, will replace Truex at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. After the race was over, he sat on a low chair, his driver's suit unzipped to his waist, sipping on a drink and taking it all in.

"It's a lot different than when I left Ganassi," said McMurray, who has spent the past four seasons driving for Roush Fenway Racing after beginning his career for Chip Ganassi. "I left there on my own will. This isn't what anyone really wanted. Just with the way the economy is, there wasn't sponsorship and they eliminated the team. But, no, it really wasn't any different. Everybody came up and said, 'It was great working with you.' I've got a lot of friends on this team, and it's weird thinking you won't drive this car any more.

"That is life, I guess. You move on and you make the best of your new situation."

Just like Truex, there's no downtime for McMurray, as he'll be reporting for work as soon as he gets back home.

"Probably [Monday] or the next day," McMurray said. "Let everyone get home and get their stuff unloaded. I'll go over there and get my seat mounted and just get used to knowing everybody's name and talking with them. I know most of the guys, so it's not going to be that big a transition."

Video
• Truex bounces off Montoya-Stewart incident (Continued)