News for February 15th 2010

McMurray caps emotional return to Ganassi-led team

Jamie McMurray gets kidded for being emotional, and he reverted to form on Sunday with good reason.
His reunion with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing began with a signature victory in Sunday’s Daytona 500, the latest triumph in his résumé of strong restrictor-plate runs and somewhat vindicating after leaving Roush Fenway Racing following last season.

Coming on the heels of last fall’s Talladega win with Roush, McMurray can lay claim to being the current king of superspeedways. This one was particularly impressive, as he got a push from former Roush teammate Greg Biffle to rocket to the front of the pack in a race extended to 208 laps or 520 miles.

“Biffle helped me out,” said McMurray, who started 13th in the No. 1 Chevrolet and led only the final two laps.

“I spun the tires on the restart. It’s just a gamble on which line (will) get the biggest run. Greg Biffle gave me an unbelievable push down the backstretch.

“When I saw the 88 (runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr.) behind me, I thought, ‘Oh, no.’ He had a good car, and they win all the time, it seems like. You just never know what to expect.”

That comment applies to his career, which began in 2002 with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (which merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007) and saw him earn his first Sprint Cup win as a substitute for injured Sterling Marlin. He left after the ’05 season for RFR, earning plate wins at Daytona in 2007 and Talladega last fall, indicators of his ability.

Due to be left out when Roush had to downsize from five to four teams, he found a home again with Ganassi, who’s on a roll in second stints with his drivers. Last season Ganassi welcomed Dario Franchitti back to his Izod IndyCar Series operation after a short stint on his NASCAR side, and that ended with another series title.

McMurray and Ganassi insisted they parted on good terms, agreeing that dynamic made it easy to get back together. The last thing they could have expected was the victory they coveted most.

And in typical McMurray form, he paused for a long moment to cry, with Ganassi patting him on the shoulder.

“Where I was last year, and for (sponsor Bass Pro Shops head) Johnny Morris and (team co-owners) Chip (Ganassi) and Felix (Sabates) to take a chance on me and let me come back, it means a lot to me,” he said.

“Unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

Overall it was a good day for EGR, which also placed 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup competitor Juan Pablo Montoya 10th with a couple of laps led as well. That, too, has been a culmination of a reunion with Ganassi.

“Believe me, I would have been perfectly happy keeping all these guys I bring back and seem to have some success with,” Ganassi said. “I just feel honored that they want to come back and that we have the type of team they want to come back to.”

McMurray chalked his superspeedway success up to having the right friends at the right time. In this case he had former teammate Biffle, whose push probably had more to do with seeing whether he could get a good run off him.

Instead, McMurray got in clean air and poured it on, a pretty good start to his second stint with his first team. And until someone knocks him off on another plate track, he’s the standard to be measured by.

“Typically, if I can finish ‘em, I usually finish pretty well,” he said. “The Daytona 500′s been a race that I think 19th is the best I’ve ever finished in this (actually, 26th).

“The July race has always been pretty good to me. I’ve always been with teams that had really good cars and really good engines. That makes a huge difference when you get to these places. You have to have a car with a good engine, and it’s got to drive well at a place like here.”

Edited: February 15th, 2010

Barber Motorsports Track Facts

Track Facts

•2.38 miles long
•45′ wide
•17 turns, most of which are flowing
•80′ of elevation change
Facility Amenities

•4 levels of paved paddock
•60 amp power available on mechanics wall
•Restroom and shower facilities
•Covered tech area
•Facility is approximately 1 mile off Interstate 20
•Birmingham International Airport is located approximately 15 minutes away
•Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum located on Park property
Track records:

•Car – 1:09.455 – avg. speed – 119.213 mph – Will Power- March 2009
•Motorcycle – 1:23.664 – avg. speed – 115.474 mph – Mat Mladin – April 2008
Track History

•The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum began life in 1988 as a private collection of George W. Barber, owner of Barber Dairies. Mr. Barber, always an automobile enthusiast, raced, modified and maintained Porsches in the 1970′s (63 first place wins). He started collecting and restoring classic sports cars in 1989.
•The Barber Motorsports Park opened in the January of 2003. The first major public event to take place at the Park was the Grand-Am Sports Car Series, May 17-18, 2003.
•Notable races / events include:
?Porsche Driving School relocates to Barber (2003)
?Mustang Club of America 30th Anniversary Celebration (2006)
?Barber hosts its first IndyCar Series open test (2007)
?Inaugural Red Bull Rookies Cup (2008)
?Kevin Schwantz Motorcycle School moves to Barber (2009)
?IndyCar Series adds Barber to its 2010 schedule (2009)
?45th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang Celebration (2009)
?Lotus Owner’s Gathering, LOG 29 (2009)
?Inaugural Legends of Motorsports (2010)
•Notable product launches:
?Porsche Cayenne North American dealer launch (2003)
?Lotus Elise press and dealer launch (2004)
?Honda CBR600-RR International press launch (2006)
?Kawasaki ZX6-R International press launch (2006)
Previous Winners

Winner(s)/Team from Grand-Am Road Racing Events (Rolex Series)

2003: Terry Borcheller (Bell Motorsports)
2004: Elliot Forbes-Robinson / Butch Leitzinger (Howard Boss Motorsports)
2005: Max Angelelli / Wayne Taylor (Suntrust Racing)
2006: Jorg Bergmeister / Colin Braun (Krohn Racing)
2007: Alex Gurney / Jon Fogarty (Gainsco / Bob Stallings Racing)
2008: Scott Pruett / Memo Rojas (Telmex / Chip Ganassi Racing)
2009: Alex Gurney / Jon Fogarty (Gainsco / Bob Stallings Racing)

Winner(s)/Team from AMA Superbike Championship:

2003: Superbike 1 – Aaron Yates
2003: Superbike 2 – Kurtis Roberts
2004: Superbike 1 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2004: Superbike 2 – Miguel Duhamel (American Honda)
2005: Superbike 1 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2005: Superbike 2 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2006: Superbike 1 – Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2006: Superbike 2 – Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2007: Superbike 1 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2007: Superbike 2 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2008: Superbike 1 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2008: Superbike 2 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2009: Superbike 1 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)
2009: Superbike 2 – Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki)

Edited: February 15th, 2010

Dale Earnhardt Jr almost Pulls a win out

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s charge to second place in the last two laps of the Daytona 500 was so frantic that even he couldn’t quite remember how he pulled it off.

Earnhardt came out of nowhere to nearly steal a surprise victory at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, somehow surging from 10th to second in a hard-driving finish during NASCAR’s version of overtime. He couldn’t quite run down Jamie McMurray as they raced to the finish line.

“It was all a blur,” Earnhardt said. “I was just going wherever they weren’t. I really don’t enjoy being that aggressive. But if there was enough room for the radiator to fit, you just kind of held the gas down and prayed for the best.”

Earnhardt, who hasn’t won since June 2008 and missed the Chase last season, said the runner-up finish was awesome and frustrating, coming that close to another Daytona victory. The great run at the storied track isn’t necessarily an indication that he’ll be good at other NASCAR stops, either.

But it was a healthy shot of momentum for a driver facing intense pressure to perform for Hendrick Motorsports this season.

“I was happy,” Earnhardt said. “I’m happy for the finish and it validates the changes they made and the hard work they’ve done over the offseason to get better.”

Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 2004 and the July Daytona race in 2001, but had finished 27th or worse in four of his last six Sprint Cup races at the track where an accident claimed his father’s life in 2001.

Earnhardt said he might have driven too conservatively at Daytona in recent years, and decided to let it all hang out this time around.

“I figured, ‘What do I have to do to finish one of these things and finish it good?’” Earnhardt said. “I might have been a little too careful, you know?”

Earnhardt’s dramatic charge came during NASCAR’s second attempt at a “green-white-checker” finish, an overtime-like provision intended to make it less likely that races will end under caution. The rule was tweaked during Speedweeks to allow for up to three attempts at a green-flag finish — instead of just one.

Earnhardt said he was in 22nd going into the final laps of regulation, but cautions caused NASCAR to add extra laps to the race and gave him the chance to charge forward.

Earnhardt praised NASCAR’s new hands-off approach to governing driver behavior, saying it made him more comfortable making aggressive moves without fear of punishment.

“They made a lot of good choices on what to do to sort of put the racing back into the drivers’ hands,” Earnhardt said. “There was a ton of bumping out there. I never once felt like anybody was looking over my shoulder, you know. I mean, everybody took care of everybody as far as I know.”

Still, Earnhardt said Sunday’s strong finish didn’t exactly dull the financial pain from Saturday’s Nationwide race. Earnhardt flipped and completely tore up his car in a wreck, and teammate Danica Patrick heavily damaged her car when she got caught up in a crash. The Nationwide race was a rough day for JR Motorsports, the family race team that Earnhardt co-owns.

Earnhardt said Saturday the bill to replace his Nationwide car and repair Patrick’s could total approximately $200,000. The total bill for bringing a pair of Nationwide cars to Daytona was even more.

“No, no, nothing will dull that — unless someone has a $600,000 check they want to give me,” Earnhardt said.

Sunday’s third-place finisher, Greg Biffle, was sitting next to Earnhardt in the postrace news conference and apologized for hitting him in Saturday’s accident. Earnhardt apparently hadn’t realized who hit him.

“I was looking at your feet,” Biffle joked.

Answered Earnhardt: “That was a mess.”

Edited: February 15th, 2010

Waltrip to retirement after 2011 Daytona

Michael Waltrip wants to make the 2011 Daytona 500 his last competitive event in the Sprint Cup series.

“I want the Daytona 500 to be my last race,” said the owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, who won this event in 2001 and 2003. “I just [don't] want this one to be it. So we’ll work on trying to figure out if we can talk someone into sponsoring me for 2011.

“Twenty-five is a nice even number. Well, not an even number, but it’s funny.”

Waltrip, who already plans to run at Talladega later this year, hinted several times during Speedweeks he wanted this to be his last 500. But as he sat through a second red flag to repair a hole in Daytona International Speedway he said the plan is for one more.

“I’d like to run Talladega and run here one more time and then be done,” he said. “That would be 25 of them in a row. That would be cool.”

Waltrip’s first win in a Sprint Cup point race came in the 2001 Daytona 500 when his owner, Dale Earnhardt, was killed on the last lap. He barely made his way into Sunday’s field on speed after crashing in his 150-mile qualifying race on Thursday.

Edited: February 15th, 2010