2016 Season Review: Jamie McMurray

The goal for Jamie McMurray was simple in 2016: Make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Again. The 2015 trip to the postseason was the first of McMurray's career, and the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver got on track early in 2016 with some impressive speed. His second-place start at Atlanta, the second race of the year, would be his best of the season.

Although McMurray would ultimately succeed in making the Chase, his numbers dipped a bit from 2015 -- that includes his number of top-five finishes for the season. After notching four in 2015, he had two in '16. His best finish, fourth, came at Talladega, which is also the site of McMurray's most recent win in 2013.

One of the more memorable wrecks of the year occurred in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July, and McMurray was at the front end of it. A restart past the midway point saw McMurray and Jimmie Johnson collide and trigger an 18-car incident. The two had a private conversation about it in the garage, and came to one conclusion -- just hard racing on a restrictor-plate track.

'Awesome' … Jamie? For an evening, yes. The Bojangles' Southern 500 again had a throwback theme, and Jamie McMurray honored Bill Elliott with a retro look that earned plenty of oohs and ahhs.

Chase time! McMurray had been around 13th or 14th in the standings for most of the regular season, and entered Richmond as a heavy favorite to advance to the postseason. He cruised to a seventh-place finish after starting fourth to enter the playoffs with momentum.

Three races into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, McMurray had his title hopes evaporate, along with his opportunity to advance from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. Ten spots were available to 14 drivers heading into the round's finale at Dover. McMurray entered the race five points behind teammate Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot, but a blown engine relegated the No. 1 team to a last-place finish.