Karting with dad a second childhood for McMurray

You'll always cause an argument if you try to pass off racing in NASCAR as an overwhelming commitment, agony of any sort or just too much of a pain in the buttocks.

Of course, if you're saying, "No, it isn't any of the above," you're obviously just thinking about the sheer joy of manipulating a vehicle -- and not just flinging it around but "controlling" it -- at ridiculous speeds in an equally crazed proximity to other equally adept individuals.

Just plain fun

Ask Jamie McMurray to give you the 411 on karting, and you'll get to the root of the sport.

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Sorry, the joy of the cockpit comes with a lot of other responsibilities, but going into those details will wait for another day.

But on the literal verge of getting into Speedweeks 2009, you have to celebrate one of the less-appreciated aspects of that commitment -- the ability to have a second childhood.

And Jamie McMurray knows all about that.

Before he got started on what's probably going to be one of the most decisive years in his Cup racing career, McMurray had a chance to do a full-blown retro trip to his pre-teen years -- and how cool must that have been?

The exclamation point on the whole thing, which involved a road trip to the World Karting Association's Kart Week activities at Daytona International Speedway immediately following the Christmas holiday, was two-fold.

First, and in direct contrast to what he'd done for years when he was growing up in racing, McMurray didn't piggyback his time on his parents' nickel. He and his dad, Jim McMurray -- known as "Hawk" to some in karting circles -- did the deal in Jamie's new truck and trailer and competing with Jamie's own TaG kart -- for "Touch and Go," a machine having an onboard starter.

And second, in a complete switch, Hawk set aside his own karts, which he remains very involved, to just enjoy the experience with his son.

"It sounds so odd to tell people you had so much fun driving versus flying but it was fun to get to ride with him," the younger McMurray said. "And it takes you back to the days, whether it was karts or late-model cars, when some of the best times you had was driving down the road, because that's when you talked the most."

The experience had to be priceless for both men, even if you set aside the fact that the full-time karting crowd didn't particularly treat McMurray too well. Forced to add weight to his high-powered machine, he finished 12th and 16th in his two finals on the seventh-tenths-mile course inside Turn 3 of the speedway's infield. (Continued)