DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In little more than the last month, Jamie McMurray has twice raced in international-caliber karting events, tested a championship-winning Rolex Series sports car and had his first outing for a new team in his primary role: Cup driver.

But this week McMurray will make his biggest step in a critical process of team building that occurs every season, even more critical for him in 2010 because he's just come back to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, for which he last raced in 2005 when it was Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

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I think it's very valuable to get to do this [sports car race] with Juan because even though you're teammates on the Cup side, you still compete against each other. So this is a really good way to bring you together because you're on the same team and you're racing together, as one.

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-- JAMIE MCMURRAY

McMurray flew to Orlando, Fla., Tuesday morning for a two-day test at Walt Disney World Speedway with his new teammate, Juan Montoya. It was the first stock car test of the new year for both men and Montoya's first time in a Cup car since last fall's Homestead finale.

From Orlando, the pair will head east to Daytona Beach, Fla., where on-track action for the Rolex 24 At Daytona Grand-Am Rolex Series season opener begins Thursday. McMurray, who last raced in the Rolex in 2005, when he was part of a Ganassi Racing team that finished fourth, is part of a four-man ensemble with Montoya, 2009 IndyCar Series champ Dario Franchitti and former IndyCar champ Scott Dixon.

It's enough to put a lesser man in a whirl. But McMurray sat down to offer his thoughts on working with new Cup crew chief Kevin Manion, teaming with the mercurial Montoya and the benefits of diversity, as well as a two-car Cup team.

Q: What's the month been like for you?

McMurray: I joked around with my wife that we should have bought a condominium in Daytona [Beach] because I've spent my entire offseason down here -- whether it was in the go-kart or the 24-hour car or testing at New Smyrna [Speedway] in the Cup car.

So it's been busy. But when the season is over, you can't wait to get a weekend off. And then, after you get one or two off, you're ready to go back and actually do something. So it's actually been a lot of fun to do all the kart racing.

Q: You're going to be Montoya's teammate in stock cars, but you get to break in first in sports cars -- at the test earlier in January, and then for a four-day race weekend. So what's the teammate experience been like so far?

McMurray: I think it's very valuable to get to do this [sports car race] with Juan because even though you're teammates on the Cup side, you still compete against each other. So this is a really good way to bring you together because you're on the same team and you're racing together, as one.

[Friday of three-day Rolex Series test] was the first day that I'd really gotten to be around Juan since signing the deal, just going out to eat dinner and exchanging phone numbers and everything that goes with that. And it really went well, and I really like Juan. (Continued)