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NASCAR News - Sports News | Archive July 1, 2009
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NASCAR confirms Mayfield tested positive for meth
By Accosiated Press
July 1, 2009
CHARLOTTE (AP) — NASCAR confirmed Wednesday that suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines.
The confirmation came outside federal court after Mayfield's attorney mentioned the illegal substance several times during a 45-minute argument against the driver's indefinite suspension. Court recessed after Bill Diehl's argument and is set to reconvene Wednesday afternoon.
"We will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jeremy Mayfield did violate the NASCAR substance abuse policy and tested positive for methamphetamines," spokesman Ramsey Poston said.
Diehl argued in court that Mayfield has never shown any characteristics of a meth abuser, and if he used the drug at the levels NASCAR has suggested, Mayfield would be "either a walking zombie or he's dead.
"His teeth were never rotting out, his eyes were not sunken," Diehl said. "He never displayed any characteristics that are commonly seen by everyone among people who use meth."
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NASCAR FAST FACTS
What: Coke Zero 400, 18th of 36 races for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.
Where: Daytona International Speedway, 2.5-mile oval in Daytona Beach, Fla.
When: Saturday, July 4, 8 p.m. ET
TV: TNT, 6:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 160 laps/400 miles
Weather: Conditions, forecast
2008 winner: Kyle Busch
Quick hits: Jeff Gordon tops the all-time win list among active drivers at Daytona with six Cup victories. ... Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth is seeking to become the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982 to sweep both Daytona events in a single season. ... Chevrolet won eight straight Daytona races from 2004-07, but is winless in the last four.
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In an affidavit filed last week, Mayfield denied ever using methamphetamines and said he didn't know how he failed a random drug test taken May 1. He was suspended eight days later after his backup "B" sample also came back positive for a banned substance.
Previously, NASCAR had refused to disclose what substance Mayfield tested positive for, and blacked out the name of the drug in all court filings leading up to Wednesday's hearing, which was attended by NASCAR chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton.
Diehl said outside court that it's been common knowledge in the industry that Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines.
Mayfield has blamed his positive test result on the combination of Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Claritin-D for allergies, an explanation repeatedly debunked by NASCAR's program administrator.
Mayfield is challenging the validity of NASCAR's testing system, and Diehl argued it's flawed because Mayfield never had the opportunity to get his backup "B" sample tested by an independent laboratory. Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corp., which runs NASCAR's testing program, tested both of Mayfield's samples.
Diehl argued that federal guidelines allow an individual a 72-hour window to have an independent lab analyze a sealed backup sample. He said that when Aegis tested the backup "B" sample two days after the "A" sample came back positive, Mayfield lost any opportunity to challenge the results because the seal had been broken on the second sample.
He also condemned NASCAR for acting as if its policies are above federal guidelines, and for not having a clear drug policy with a defined list of banned substances. Although NASCAR provided crews with a list of prohibited substances, drivers do not have one because NASCAR reserves the right to test for anything at any time.
"They say 'We're not bound by anything. We're NASCAR. We can do what we want to do,' " Diehl said. "If they decide to ban Coca-Cola, or coffee or orange juice, their argument is 'We can.'
"That smells bad, and it stinks enough that the court should intervene."
Diehl wants U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen to reinstate Mayfield on Wednesday in time to travel to this weekend's race at Daytona International Speedway. He said NASCAR would not be harmed by Mayfield racing this weekend, and the sanctioning body can drug test Mayfield every day going forward.
"Independence Day for Jeremy ought to be today," Diehl told Mullen, noting that Saturday night's race falls on the holiday.
Mayfield indicated outside court he will go to Daytona if he's reinstated, but he was not clear in what capacity. He owns his own low-budget team, but said in court documents last week that he's had to lay off 10 employees, borrow money from family and sell personal assets to meet his living expenses.
"I want to drive and would love to be there driving," he said. "But obviously it's late in the week. But we'll definitely be there."
Ownership of the No. 41 Toyota was transferred to his wife, Shana, following his suspension, but she cited financial reasons in not sending the team to the past five races. The team used J.J. Yeley in the first two races after Mayfield's suspension.
Mullen advised the court he would recess after 75 minutes because he had a funeral to attend and said he'd hear NASCAR when he returned.
"What Bill Diehl proved today is that he has a remarkably vivid imagination in terms of what the procedures are," Poston said. "NASCAR followed all its procedures. The samples are pristine, and this afternoon we have the opportunity to speak to the judge."
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Identity crisis: Can NASCAR reach old, new fans effectively?
By Nate Ryan
July 1, 2009
When NASCAR was born on the sands of Daytona Beach, Fla., 61 years ago, its fan base likely wasn't much different from its racing heroes. A sport spawned by moonshine running starred undereducated white males from the South who subsisted on modest incomes.
As it returns to Daytona this weekend for a July 4 race celebrating America, NASCAR is coping with maintaining the interest of a fan base that increasingly reflects the country's 21st century sophistication Statistics say its followers are richer, smarter and more technologically savvy than ever.
Bootleggers have given way to bloggers — and the shift has occurred as fans have become a focal point for re-energizing a phenomenon whose once surging popularity has lost some steam.
With TV ratings and attendance in a three-year dip after steady growth for more than a decade, NASCAR has refocused on catering to a constituency that seems vastly different from the redneck stereotype associated with stock-car racing. There are physics professors who apply mathematics to explain the sport's wrecks and rule-breaking, and multi-degreed mountain climbers mesmerized by its plot twists and rivalries.
But there also still is a blue-collar section of dock workers and dental hygienists, presenting a challenge of appealing to all groups without alienating.
"We have to play the game a little bit different than what we did 15 or 20 years ago because society is dictating they want to see something different," says Richard Petty, a seven-time champion and team owner. "It makes it really tough from NASCAR's standpoint (of) what is the fan really looking for?"
NASCAR has been measuring fan demographics since starting its own brand research department nine years ago. According to data derived from ESPN Sports Poll (independent consumer research conducted by TNS), 60% live outside the South, and 41% are female. Since 2000, the number of fans making $100,000 or more has doubled from 7% to 16% of its fan base, and those with incomes of $50,000 or more has risen from 35% to 48%. College graduates in the fan base has swelled to nearly one in four, up 33% since 2000.
David Carter, executive director of the University of Southern California's Sports Business Institute, says changes are reflective of the geographical shifts in NASCAR, which has added races in the Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami markets in the past 12 years.
"As they have moved out of their Southern roots and penetrated big metro markets, the demographic of their casual fan base has become more diversified," Carter says. "For about 40 to 50 years, the demographics of this country have changed, so you'd expect every sport to be different."
NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola says NASCAR.com counts about 7 million visitors per month — or about 1 million more than the average TV audience for Cup races 10 years ago — and a typical fan spends seven hours a week consuming NASCAR media through TV, websites or satellite radio. Many sponsors and drivers have begun using Twitter and other social-networking sites.
Last year, a 12,300-member, Internet-based "fan council" representing all 50 states was created so NASCAR could conduct opinion surveys through the Internet. The series recently adopted double-file restarts after the proposed change received overwhelmingly positive support from the council, which counts bloggers as about 20% of its membership.
"We look at it as an advisory board," Giangola says. "It's a tool to listen to what's on fans' minds as any company would want to connect with their best customers. Technology allows us to do the feedback in a more efficient way."
It's part of an industry-wide push to make a series always billing itself as "fan friendly" even more accommodating to those buying tickets.
Drivers are scheduling more autograph sessions, tracks are slashing concession prices and lobbying hotels to eliminate minimum-stay requirements, and NASCAR is embracing "citizen journalism" by offering press credentials to those who cover the sport in their spare time.
Many of the steps are aimed at helping supporters weather the economic downturn, and it's because no sport relies more heavily on the support of customers to fuel its existence.
Last month, a free cookout with a 1,300-foot grill for Coca-Cola 600 ticket-holders at Lowe's Motor Speedway drew a crowd of more than 6,000. The event was sponsored by Coke, which has been active in NASCAR for 40 years, the past 12 as an official sponsor (and recently renewed its status in a 10-year deal). Beatriz Perez, senior vice president of integrated marketing for Coca-Cola North America, says the company has adjusted its campaigns for a more national strategy incorporating multiple media platforms.
"These fans are very much into technology, and we're trying to make sure we follow the consumers," says Perez, who added Coke's sales spike double-digits in markets with race promotions. "There's no less passion for NASCAR, it's just people are consuming it differently because of the economic conditions today."
Corporate sponsorship is the primary revenue stream for championship-caliber teams whose annual budgets start at $20 million, and Fortune 500 companies splash their brightly colored logos on those cars because they believe the brand loyalty justifies the investment. NASCAR says one in three of its fans always buy sponsors' products according to Ipsos polling, and a 2005 study of NASCAR fans by James Madison University said roughly half liked companies more if they sponsored the sport. "We have to prove to fans we're willing to do whatever it takes so they come to the races and enjoy being part of it," veteran driver Jeff Burton says. "If we don't, this sport will be in trouble. That's what made this sport what it is. And as we grew and grew and grew, we got away from that."
Beer and banjos
But in making changes to placate supporters, racing consultant H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, former president of Lowe's Motor Speedway for 33 years, says NASCAR should remain mindful that its fan base is "pretty much blue collar" and didn't respond well when tracks moved away from country music performers in prerace ceremonies in the past decade.When an American Idol contestant didn't remove his hat during a national anthem at Lowe's, Wheeler says some fans vowed never to return.
"Sure, there are upper-middle-income fans, but mostly they came from modest backgrounds," Wheeler says. "They are very conservative, flag waving and, yes, they drink beer.
"You have to be so careful with what you do. Getting away from banjos in an effort to change the so-called image, they turned a lot of people away. They got away from the roots, and the roots don't change very fast."
Joe Baldwin, a native of Wilmington, N.C., and fan since 1978, says NASCAR "spent too much time and energy going after the big bucks from sponsors, moving into big media markets and forsaking the small venues that are NASCAR.
"They've kind of ruined the sport," Baldwin says. "I understand the economics of getting people into the bigger markets, but it took it away from roots and turned it into too big a money sport."
Baldwin, 48, says TV coverage has lacked sophistication because of a mass-market approach aimed at snagging more casual fans with elements such as "Digger," an animated gopher who starred in cartoons during Fox broadcasts this year.
"It's one of the most asinine things they've put on TV," he says. "They treat fans like they're stupid."
Stock car science
The influx of engineers into NASCAR also seems to have attracted a new wave of academics such as Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky, a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas. She became hooked while wondering what caused a crash during a race.
"A car wiggled around in the corner, and I'm a physicist who knows cars don't spontaneously go in the wall," says Leslie-Pelecky, who uses the sport as subject matter to keep her students interested. "There's so much neat science in NASCAR."
After building friendships with many Sprint Cup engineers who had doctorates as she did, Leslie-Pelecky, 44, wrote a book ("The Physics of NASCAR") and started a blog (stockcarscience.com) whose posts (on topics ranging from kinematics to centripetal acceleration to cheating) have received thousands of hits.
"It's a great way to educate people," she says. "NASCAR fans are fervent and will wade through net force and molecules if it helps them understand why something happens to their driver."
Patrick Hickey began watching NASCAR a decade ago because "it's like a soap opera of not being able to wait for the next episode." Hickey, 54, is a native of Ontario, Canada, and a fan of four-time champion Jeff Gordon, whose late 1990s rivalry with seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt entertained longtime and new fans by pitting an upstart from the West Coast against a working-class hero from North Carolina.
"Jeff's a California boy who breaks the mold," says Hickey, who has a masters in nursing, a doctorate in community health and is a professor at the University of South Carolina. "I encourage my students to do that and ask questions to challenge the system.
"This is a poor man's and wealthy man's sport, and you see the cross-section of America when you go to these races," says Hickey, who has attended a couple dozen races and unfurled a Cup flag on the peak of Mount Everest after ascending the summit two years ago.
Different world
Mike Wright, a long-haul trucker from near Petersburg, Va., has attended more than 250 races and watched affluence creep into track campgrounds.
"This felt like our own fraternity in the 1970s, and then in the '90s, all of a sudden there were gigantic motor homes," Wright, 40, says. "This used to be a regional sport, and it ain't no secret people in the South don't like change. There's no more Ted's Auto Service on cars; you've got mainstream companies sponsoring the cars, and that has changed everything a lot."
Wright says he likes the increased diversity (he camps beside those from Maine, Massachusetts and Texas at Bristol, Tenn.) but not rising prices. The weak economy has forced him to cut back on attending races and buying driver merchandise.
"Sometimes, I miss the old days when it was smaller and easier to go, but I don't fault NASCAR for that," he says. "They just need to let things go a while. They've made a lot of changes, and a lot of older fans balked at some of the stuff. I liked it pretty good the way it was."
Wright says he was pleased when he saw a dozen drivers signing autographs before a race at Martinsville in March.
"That's a big deal to meet your hero and the way it was in the '70s and '80s," he says. "You can't put a pricetag on that."
Some NASCAR stars are being generous with more than just their time. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin is giving away blocks of seats at every race. His fan club has received more than 10,000 applications.
"It's reaching the blue-collar fan that used to have season tickets and now can't afford them," Hamlin says. "I want to help the race fans out that have gone to races for the last 20 years and now don't have the means."
Matt Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, occasionally answers the phone at his fan club office but says he's doing no more than in the past because "there's very few times I haven't done anything asked within reason.
"It should always be about the fans," he said. "Without them, we can't race."
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Fryer’s Five: New Hampshire
By Jenna Fryer
July 1, 2009
Just a few hours before Joey Logano’s road course debut, team president J.D. Gibbs was heaping praise on his rookie driver for the on-the-job training he’s done this season.
A rough start to the season had many questioning the wisdom of Joe Gibbs Racing’s decision to promote Logano into Tony Stewart’s open Sprint Cup Series seat after just six months in the Nationwide Series. The car, the competition and the tracks seemed overwhelming to the young phenom, who had five finishes of 30th or worse in the first eight races of the year.
Had JGR officials known that testing would be banned this season, Gibbs admitted they might have reconsidered the decision to move Logano into the No. 20 Toyota. Reduced seat time guaranteed a rocky ride through the first part of the schedule, and all Gibbs wanted to see out of Logano was steady improvement.
He was delivering on that goal long before Sunday’s breakthrough victory in the rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The turnaround started in the ninth race of the season, at Talladega of all places, where Logano weathered a frantic finish for the first top-10 of his career.
Logano matched that ninth-place finish two weeks later at Darlington, where he led 19 laps and earned high praise from his predecessor, and again in the Coca-Cola 600 to grab three top-10 finishes in four races. It marked an upswing for Logano that had JGR officials anxiously awaiting the second half of the schedule, when he’d be returning to tracks for the second time this season – presumably with enough experience to give him a fighting chance.
Of course, Gibbs couldn’t have forecast Sunday’s win, which will draw criticism for how it was earned.
An earlier spin meant Logano didn’t have to pit at the same time as the front-runners, so crew chief Greg Zipadelli kept him out on the track to assume the lead as rain closed in on the track. Since Logano won’t make the Chase for the championship, but is still inside the critical top 35 mark, it was a gamble Zipadelli could afford to make because they had nothing to lose: If the rain came fast enough, the race would be stopped while Logano was leading. And if it rained hard enough, NASCAR would call it without resuming the action.
Zipadelli played it exactly right, and it paid off with a win at the track both driver and crew chief (Connecticut natives, both) consider home.
“You take ‘em any way you can get ‘em,” Stewart said of the win by his old team. “That’s as much strategy as shocks and springs and everything else. They still had to work to get themselves in that position, so they did a good job.”
There will still be people who will forever say Logano backed into the win, and they’re right. But the record book won’t reflect it. All the stats will show is a young kid who was making steady progress as he closed in on the victory.
Five things from the NASCAR weekend:
1. Jeremy Mayfield readied for his day in court: The stalemate between NASCAR and the first driver suspended under the toughened drug policy ramped up with both sides filing a mountain of paperwork in federal court.
Among the documents was Mayfield’s affidavit that he’s never used methamphetamines, doesn’t know how he failed his May 1 drug test and said he does not “understand how or why this is happening to me or my family.” He also revealed he’s laid off 10 employees from Mayfield Motorsports, can’t find any companies willing to work with him and has been reduced to borrowing money from family and selling assets to meet his living expenses.
Next up is Wednesday’s showdown in court, where Mayfield is hoping a judge will lift his indefinite suspension so he can rush down to Daytona in time for this weekend’s Coke Zero 400. His chances are maybe 50-50, but even if he is reinstated, what are his reasonable expectations?
He had a shell of a race team before he was forced to let people go, and tight finances had kept the No. 41 away from the track the last five weeks. Even when he was fully operational, Mayfield had only qualified for five of 11 races and had a season-best finish of 32nd.
Since his May 9 suspension, I’ve wondered many times if Mayfield would have been better off just accepting the NASCAR suspension and completing the “path to reinstatement.” I say that in all due respect to his right to defend himself from what he insists is a flawed test result.
It’s likely his reinstatement would have taken six months or longer, and, unless he wins Wednesday in court, his legal fight might take the same amount of time. But fighting NASCAR is also a lot more expensive, and Mayfield is admittedly struggling right now with finances. And no matter the outcome at this point, it’s unlikely sponsors are going to be lined up outside his race shop if he’s ever eligible to race again.
His prospects might have been a lot better had he just quietly faded back, continued sending the No. 41 to the track with a substitute driver and earned his return to NASCAR. Instead, he may go broke trying to get back. And if and when he does, he may not find the environment to be as pleasant as he remembered.
2. The Scott Speed show continues to be a disaster for Red Bull Racing: Speed and fellow Red Bull driver Brian Vickers were not teammates in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, and neither had any allegiance to the other as they were running fifth and sixth in the final laps.
But by wrecking Vickers on the final lap, Speed again slowed Red Bull’s overall development. It’s tough enough that the former Formula One driver has struggled in his rookie season, failed to make three races – including the road course at Sonoma, where he should have shined – and is ranked 36th in owner points.
Now throw in a feud with Vickers, and Red Bull has an absolute nightmare on its hands.
Speed may be the golden boy of the ownership in Austria, but Vickers is the current key to Red Bull’s success. He’s helped the team make steady progress in its two-plus seasons, weathering a horrendous first year and a complete overhaul in team management along the way.
He’s inched closer and closer to giving Red Bull its first NASCAR points win, and if he had a second team to lean on, Vickers would maybe even be a Chase contender. Instead, Speed has slowed the progress of the No. 83 team and now doesn’t seem willing to play well with the star of the race team.
When Speed wrecked Sunday at New Hampshire to finish 36th, he flippantly brought up the previous day’s incident with Vickers.
“I think the car behind us got into us a little bit and it spun us out. Other than that I really can’t tell you,” he said. “Maybe Brian paid someone off for yesterday, I don’t know.”
Vickers is in the late stages of locking down a contract extension with Red Bull, where he appears happy and believes he has the best chance to compete for a championship. If he wants success soon, he should probably have a long talk with management about how handicapped he is by Speed’s current attitude.
3. The economy is wreaking havoc on NASCAR’s smaller two series: Manufacturer cutbacks, sponsorship woes and start-and-parks are well documented in the premier Sprint Cup Series. Less publicized are the issues in the Nationwide and Truck Series, which are getting pummeled by the weakened economy.
General Motors ended its support of both series earlier this month – funding was only reduced in the Cup series – and teams are dropping races from their schedules at an alarming rate.
Now JTG/Daugherty Racing said it won’t field a full-time Nationwide team for Michael McDowell beyond next week’s race in Daytona if it can’t find sponsorship.
“We had money to run half the races and we had to make a choice whether to spread those races out or front-load them and hope to get enough money to run the second half,” said owner Tad Geschickter, who indicated the team will occasionally compete the rest of the year.
The loss of a full-time Nationwide team came on the heels of the revelation that NASCAR had to cover the purse at the Milwaukee Mile because the track failed to pay up following its Nationwide and Truck Series races two weeks ago.
“Despite having a terrific day of NASCAR racing [at Milwaukee] there remain outstanding issues which concern NASCAR,” said spokesman Ramsey Poston. “As a matter of policy, I won’t get into the specifics of our business dealings. However, I can say we are working closely with the track management to resolve outstanding issues.”
Both series are still the pipeline to Cup racing, a place for crewmen to hone their experience, drivers to learn the ropes and new owners to ease into NASCAR.
It’s where Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are learning about NASCAR ownership, where Brad Keselowski currently sits as he waits for a Cup ride and where Dave Rogers has become a winning crew chief. Both series also provide an outlet for old-timers Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner and Co. to race when their Cup careers have come to an end.
The Cup Series gets all the glory, but the other two deserve a nod of appreciation for their support. NASCAR will find a way to keep them both floating, but if their health continues to deteriorate, it will come at the expense of the big league.
4. Kyle Busch broke his losing streak, and picked up some new enemies in a 24-hour span: Busch had an up-and-down weekend in New Hampshire. He ended his Nationwide futility with a win in Saturday’s race. After two consecutive runner-up finishes, it was the breakthrough Busch hoped would carry over into the Cup Series, where’s he’s stuck in a seven-race slump.
Instead, he triggered an eight-car accident that once again had rivals spewing venom in his direction. Many of the drivers collected in the accident believed Busch was being impatient when, because Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun his tires on a restart and Martin Truex Jr. had to slow down to avoid hitting him, Busch tried to duck to the outside of Truex and ended up sending him into a spin.
“I guess everybody just learns to expect Kyle doing something stupid,” said Brian Vickers, one of the casualties. “Stupid is forever.”
But Busch deserves some credit for accepting responsibility for his role in the accident, and doing it post-race. His pattern of late had been to skip any interviews following a bad performance. He didn’t Sunday.
“I have to apologize to all those guys on the restart,” he said. “I got into Martin and I hate it for him and Jeff Burton and those guys. It was just hard racing on a restart. We were just battling for every spot out there today.”
Everyone is quick to knock Busch for his mistakes and immaturity. So when he does something right – standing up and taking blame – he’s earned a nod of approval.
5. Happy Birthday, guys: Excuse Burton and Truex if they aren’t in the mood to celebrate their Monday birthdays. Both got an early start when they were casualties of the eight-car accident triggered by Busch.
It was the punctuation on trying times for both drivers.
Burton is stuck in the companywide struggles at Richard Childress Racing, and has slipped from sixth to 15th in the standings over the last five weeks.
Truex is struggling for a second straight season after failing to adapt in the offseason merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing. He’s got three top-10 finishes all season and is 24th in the standings.
Burton, however, is committed to RCR and being part of the process that will snap the slump that has knocked all four cars outside Chase consideration.
“I am going to tell you, I feel good about what we are doing with our team. I feel good about what we are doing with our cars,” Burton said. “I think we can still do this thing, I really do. We have our best stuff coming, and I think we can do it. If we run well enough, the points will take care of themselves. There’s still plenty of time. Nine races is an eternity in this sport.”
Truex, on the other hand, officially appears on his way out the door. He’s long been rumored to be in line to replace Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 Toyota, and Michael Waltrip Racing on Monday called a July 7 news conference that’s presumed to announce his hiring.
I’ve maintained since very early this season that Truex was headed to MWR, and Waltrip would be best served in a part-time driver role that allows him to expand on his broadcasting and corporate spokesman skills.
It’s the right move for Waltrip, who again on Sunday saw how improved his organization is when David Reutimann finished fourth.
Landing Truex will likely lock down Napa for several years, give Reutimann valuable feedback from a teammate and MWR another legitimate player in the Cup Series. Finally announcing it may also help Truex snap out of the on-track funk he’s seemed to be suffering through all season.
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McMurray stays optimistic in disappointing season
July 1, 2009
Jamie McMurray could hardly wait to get the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season going.
After all, he closed out last year with five top-10 finishes in the last six races, including three straight third-place runs to end the season.
But after a 33rd-place showing in the No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford at New Hampshire on Sunday, McMurray finds himself a disappointing 22nd in the season standings. Heading into Saturday's race at Daytona - where the last of his two Cup wins came in July 2007 - McMurray has just three top-10s this year with his best finish a seventh-place at Richmond.
"At the beginning of the season, we probably ran a little bit better than what we are right now," McMurray said. "We ended last year with those three third-place finishes and started the year off qualifying really well, and we actually raced real well, (but) had flat tires, a transmission break and other stuff.
"We haven't run that bad, we just haven't been stellar. And some of that has been circumstantial. I believe we've had a little bit better car than where we've finished."
Teammates Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are all among the top 12 and appear headed for berths in the Chase for the championship, while McMurray and David Ragan, 30th in the points, continue to struggle.
McMurray said any problems he and Ragan have are not from a lack of team communication.
"They share everything," he said. "Anything that any engineer, crew chief or driver wants from another team is there. It's just that it doesn't always work for you.
"I feel like Matt and I share the most. If we have a weekend where we've tried a lot of things and it hasn't worked and Matt has a different setup, I would feel very confident putting that in. And Matt is the same way towards me.
But Kenseth, who started the year with victories at Daytona and California, is 10th in the points and McMurray is all but out of the race for the Chase.
"Our cars still drive pretty good, but it's just that it's so much closer this year than what it was even was last year," McMurray said. "And I think by our team not qualifying as well as it has, that's hurt us a little bit. But it doesn't take much to make your car better.
"I don't think that we need to reinvent the wheel. I think it's just fine-tuning. Racing goes in spurts. Last year when we were qualifying so well and we were finishing in the top three the last few races, we didn't do anything different than we did the rest of the season or what we're doing right now. It's just the cautions kind of fell your way and you just kind of hit on something each weekend."
McMurray is hoping that type of magic will happen again, and soon.
Roush Fenway has to cut down to four Cup cars next season to meet NASCAR's rules and McMurray knows he could be the odd man out.
But after spending most of the 2005 season - his last year with Chip Ganassi's team - dealing with the rumor mill, McMurray is keeping his future plans to himself.
"In 2005, I was like, 'This is great, everybody is talking about me,' I found out there's no advantage of being involved in all of that," he said. "There's nothing to be gained by that."
Whatever happens, McMurray insists he is enjoying racing more than ever at 33.
"Honestly, I probably enjoy racing now more than I ever have," he said. "I don't know that I've become a better driver. But with experience, you make wiser decisions and you learn certain things about racetracks. And I enjoy the stuff off the track, like sponsor appearances and talking with fans, more than I did when I first got into this."
One reason he is enjoying himself, despite the lack of results, is being back together with crew chief Donnie Wingo, who joined the team over the winter.
"That transition's been effortless and Donnie's fit right in," McMurray said. "I worked with him for four years at Ganassi. As long as when the day's over, you feel like the engineer and the crew chief did everything that they could, that's satisfactory. Sometimes, you get the result and sometimes you don't."
With just nine races remaining before the start of the Chase, McMurray - 316 points behind 12th-place Juan Pablo Montoya - knows his chances of making NASCAR's postseason aren't very good. But he's trying to stay optimistic.
"I really feel like this is the best team I've ever been with," he said. "We have a really, really solid group of guys and I think that anything is possible.
"If you finish in the top five, the amount of points you accumulate, it's incredible. I don't think until you're mathematically eliminated, you never give up."
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