Chip Ganassi Racing teammates both placed in top 10
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JOLIET, Ill. -- Neither Kyle Larson nor Jamie McMurray qualified for this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
That might have been difficult to believe based on the teammates' efforts in Sunday's MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
It took McMurray, who started the 267-lap race just outside the top 10, only 40 laps around the 1.5-mile speedway to put his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet out front. He led three times for a 32-lap total, and finished ninth in the first of 10 races in this year's Chase.
Larson, competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, was even more impressive in his red and white No. 42 Chevrolet. Despite starting at the rear of the field after wrecking his primary car in practice, the 22-year-old led 20 laps, and engaged in a furious battle for the win in the waning laps of the race.
His third-place finish was his sixth top-five and 12th top-10 finish of the season.
"The cars are there; the teams are doing the job. We just need to close it now," team owner Chip Ganassi said afterward.
Larson's efforts drew praise from four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, who made it a point to speak with the youngster on pit road after edging him for runner-up honors.
"I think this kid is the real deal," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. "He's going to be a star in this series for a long time."
Riding the high line around the track for much of the day, Larson engaged in a heated battle for the lead with Kevin Harvick following several late-race restarts. After eventual race-winner Brad Keselowski took control, it became a dogfight between Larson, Gordon and Harvick for position.
"It was fun racing him," Larson said of a race-ending six-lap run with Gordon for second. "I definitely wanted to beat him. I was trying all I could, just tried a little bit too hard.
"I was running probably an inch or two off the wall all day and finally got into it."
Ganassi called Larson's efforts "another step."
"He had some good racing up front there and against good guys," he said. "You have to keep in mind that he's a rookie. I thought he did a good job.
"It's a tall order to do this. We use the phrase, 'he's racing against real men now.' He show's he's ready for it.
"The No. 1 car was fabulous. We showed we came here with good cars."
McMurray, who had his own brush with the wall earlier in the race, noted the danger in running the high line.
"My car was really good on the top, but it was easy to step over the edge up there," he said. "I thought my teammate was going to pull out a win at the end.
"We have had really good cars the last several weeks, and I think we are getting better every week."
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