Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Results (with starting pos.) from Kansas Speedway
1. (25) Brad Keselowski No. 2 Dodge
17. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet
29. (6) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet
No. 1 MCDONALD’S TEAM BRINGS HOME 29TH PLACE FINISH AT KANSAS
Kansas City, Kan. (June 5, 2011) – Starting from the sixth-position in the STP 400, the McDonald’s team struggled in the early stages of the race with handling issues on the No. 1 Chevrolet. The crew would work tirelessly throughout the entire event to find the right balance on the car. After a late race pit road penalty, the plan to use fuel strategy to gain positions at the end was foiled, and the McDonald’s Chevrolet was credited with a 29th-place finish.
Jamie McMurray and the McDonald’s crew spent all their on-track time in Friday’s two practice sessions working only on the race set up for Sunday’s STP 400. Not knowing exactly what they would have for qualifying, the team took advantage of an early draw and cooler track temperatures to post a sixth-place starting spot.
When the green flag dropped on the race the No. 1 Chevrolet fell back several positions with an ill-handling car. The team would work through the next several pit stops to make the necessary changes that would have McMurray running lap times comparable with the race leader and gaining track position.
On the final pit stop of the day the No. 1 team was in position to stretch fuel mileage to the end of the race when a majority of other teams would have to make one more pit stop. The strategy would have given the team a solid finish among the top-15 cars. However on that final stop the team would have to serve a pass-thru penalty for an equipment violation, resulting in a 29th-place finish.
McMurray commented after the race, “The car was a handful to drive in the early going and our guys made a lot of changes. We were fortunate enough to catch a few cautions that allowed us to make some major changes under yellow. We thought that we were going to catch a break at the end on the fuel strategy, however with the pit road penalty we were just kind of stuck with what we had there at the end.”
NOTES
– McMurray is currently 27th -position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, 92 points out of 10th-place
– McMurray was one of only 10 drivers to move up one or more positions in the final 30 laps of the race
– McMurray ranked 20th among all drivers for most green flag passes with 86
Next weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will move to the Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 500, Sunday June 12 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the event will be covered live on TNT and MRN radio affiliated stations.
