And in turn making Chip Ganassi, Johnny Morris and Kevin Manion look pretty good.
Since returning to his old home at Ganassi Jamie McMurray looks like a new man. Just past the halfway point of the season he has won (or almost won) the three most prestigious events on the NASCAR schedule. McMurray’s got two wins, three poles, six top-fives, seven top-tens, and has led 228 laps (the most of any year in his career). Despite three DNF’s, and some bad luck, McMurray is having one of the best years of his career.
The same can’t be said for the guy McMurray replaced.
Martin Truex Jr. was folded into the Ganassi organization at the beginning of last season, and quickly established his desire to be somewhere else. By July of ’09 he had announced his intended move to Michael Waltrip Racing.
Truex, with very similar equipment and team personnel to McMurray (same engines, same crew chief, though some differing chassis) was lackluster at best last season. In the same year his teammate made the Chase, Truex was only able to take three poles, one top-five and six top-tens. He finished 23rd in the points. This season he’s running just slightly better with an average finish of 19.3.
And how about Jack Roush? He gets rid of McMurray and the kid starts winning. In fact, McMurray started winning before he left Roush – he has the most recent Roush and Ford Cup Series win.
At this moment Roush has three drivers in the Chase, and one 24th in the points (McMurray is 16th). I’m not saying Roush should have gotten rid of David Ragan, but it’s gotta stink to see McMurray over winning big races while they struggle to get over their performance hump.
All the above about Roush said, I don’t think you’ll hear too many arguments that McMurray’s move to Roush wasn’t for the best – on the same token, not too many are saying right now his move away from Roush (as if he had a choice) was bad.
One guy who was a Jamie McMurray skeptic coming into this season was sporting goods mogul Johnny Morris (CEO of Bass Pro Shops). It took some convincing to get Morris to go along with the plan – and let’s be honest, outdoorsman is not the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jamie McMurray.
Though maybe not the best ambassador of the brand off the track, McMurray has shown he has what it takes to represent Bass Pro Shops on track. If you saw victory lane on Sunday, you saw Morris is a skeptic no more. He has even taken Chip Ganassi and McMurray out hunting (I’ll bet that was interesting).
You never know how things are going to turn out. That is a fact of life. And the story of Jamie McMurray and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing are a prime example of that. Just ask Ty Norris.
My how things change.
Related posts:
- Is MWR The Best Place For Truex?
- Short Tracks Rough up Roush
- McMurray Victim of Crew Swap?
- It’s Silly Season Again!
- Montoya Making Strides
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on Jul 27th, 2010 at 8:30 am
McMurray is showing Roush that he was tired of being the R&D guy. With the two biggest victories of the season and being a top contender each week he is showing that he is for real. I have always liked him (he is not my favorite) so I am happy to see him succeed. As a Roush-Fenway and Carl Edwards fan I bums me out a bit to see him not succeeding at Roush but I honestly believe that if he had stayed at Roush he wouldnt have either of these wins. Ganassi knows how to build INDY cars very well. Roush’s cars only did OK on Sunday. As for Truex he has done OK this season but he sure has not had the succees he was looking for.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 8:32 am
I also have to say that Johnny Morris would be kicking himself if he chose to move away from McMurray. It was a good decision on his part. And one that have a feeling is compensating him very weel.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I felt McMurray was the odd man out at Roush way before 2009. So when the 4-car rule took effect, and with UPS adamant about Ragan, I knew he was going to be out. Despite previous parting, I felt Ganassi would take him back. Noone would believe me when I said it was Bass Pro holding up driver selection for the #1 car. I believed McMurray was their best choice for a driver for a number of reasons, and I wrote a bunch of support letters to them saying so. Glad they agreed with me
Roush did what any owner would in the same situation, he cut what he felt was his weakest link. No blame from me there, with the sponsors having such a large say-so.
I think this is a little unfair to Truex. He was a DEI driver & stoutly weathered all the storms that company had, which even Dale couldn’t take anymore. As EGR he no longer fit there, many DEI employees gone, it was never going to get better for him. I didn’t blame him one bit for looking for another situation. When MW signed bro Ryan & decided to step back from fulltime racing, there was no doubt Martin was going to be his replacement. MWR has a lot of promise, improving monthly & while maybe not happening fast enough for him (after all he’s a racer) I think there’s good people there & plenty of time for Martin to get himself back up again.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 10:38 am
McMurray is a class act and much deserving of the accolades.
Roush just about a winner in Biffle, just took a little too long to clear the crop of 2 stoppers at the bricks.
Truex-his time will come, but a bit more pressure now that DR has a legitimate win at MWR.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 10:46 am
I see a bit of the same in story of KB and Jr. Think it all goes to feeling at home.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
McMurray is a nice young man, not a super nova. Those who are climbing on his bandwagon will be on another driver’s in a month or so. Maybe it should be called media hopping.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Although Bass Pro and McMurray may seem an odd match, remember that Bass Pro is head-quartered in Springfield, MO, and James is from nearby Joplin, MO. He also professes boating and spending time on the lake as one of his hobbies. And while the Bass Pro HQ in Springfield is notable for their stuffed bear (I used to be mesmerised by it as a child), it started as a fishing store, which then developed into sporting goods and hunting.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
It’s just nice to see a guy win races after he was dubbed worthless by Roush. I thought Ragan would loss his job. And Jamie Mac is still the last Roush racer to have a win. And the only winner in 2009.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
This is a perfect example on how bad the favoritism for Chevy is!
They will never let Chevy get behind, no matter on how they want to deny it, its always Chevy that gets to dominate without penality! If Chevy was half as bad as Roush was performing you would have seen rule changes quickly!
Nascar should just remember IROC was a all GM show to!!!
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
I never had an respect for Jack Roush at all. I don’t know why Jamie Mac left Ganassi in the first place but I’m glad he was given another chance ..At least he (ganassi) is not a cry baby like Roush is. But you have to go where the money is and then you get used as a R&D driver then cut loose.. They should really get some good drivers in that organization because all they have is a guy who tries to kill other drivers, a guy who lost his winning ways and fires a good crew chief and Ragen and Bifle are quiet and aren’t causing problems. Hat’s off to Jamie Mac!
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
That James is a nice young man,
BUT….
CHIP GANASSI IS THE MAN!!!!
more more more “Owner Stories”, please : )
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Whatever…
Jamie McMurray is a hack. I hope he never wins another race. Ever.
If MTjr had been given the same equipment last year that has been given to JMcM this year, he’d have been in victory lane. More than once. There’s a reason why the man is a 2-time Busch Series champion…and Jamie won’t even get close to making the Chase.
Showing up Roush, though – I’ll always cheer that on!
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 2:43 am
J_mac was never much of a factor when he was with Chip the 1st time. He had what 5 years with Jack and only won a couple of races and was never in the hunt for a cup. He never even shined when he was in one of the Roush busch/nat_wide rides. He is back with Chip and in a brand that had 9 of the top 10 qualifers and has won the manufacturers championship for what 10 years now and always seems to have an edge. He should be winning and think if he was in a HMS car, no offense Jr.
J_mac is having a good year with 2 wins and what 20 something in points so… great I guess if you need to write about something. Lets see what he does next year. Oh, and remember, the other two most recent races he won were plate races which is a luck thing. Remember, even Cope and Mikey_W won at Daytona!
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 5:22 am
OK – I totally disagree with the Title of this post! – I think Martin (Truex) is doing great and having a great year, since he is no longer bieng held back at the former DEI! (May Dale rest in peace). -
Jamie is getting alot of attention because he is finally performing after all of these years.
In my opinion, people for whatever reason are down on any of the drivers at MWR, mailnly because alot of people dont care for MW. – And thats thier issue.
Look at Martins previous years stats and now this years – MUCH BETTER – Thank you MWR!
Martin is a really great guy, awsome to his fans, and deserves to finally be with a team that cares about thier drivers and staff!
And as for Jamie, he is not under the “House of Roush” thumb, but he is no Jimmie Johnson. He still needs to work on his attitude….but thats MY personal opinion from my own personal experiences around the boy.
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Steve_S: While it does take more than just skill to win at a plate track, McMurray won two in a row and almost made it three at Talladega. In addition to that, I think his win at Indy and his 3 poles have legitimized him even more. And he isn’t 20-something in points…he’s 16th.
You say “think if he was in an HMS car”…but he may be doing worse. Certain people just fit better with certain organizations. We saw that in part with his failed move to Roush.
I don’t remember which year this was, maybe around 2006, but there was one year when he was still in Ganassi’s #42 when he just barely missed the chase but then pulled off a string of top-10s in the last 10 races and scored enough points to have been in contention for the title had he made the chase.
Charles: As for Chevy’s dominance, let’s be realistic. A good portion of it is simply due to its drivers and teams. Not counting S&P efforts, Chevy has 14 regular teams including many champion drivers. Few would argue that Stewart, Gordon, and Johnson are among the best drivers in the business. Ford has 12, but only 8 if you leave out the less than stellar efforts of Front Row Motorsports and the #26 team. Plus Roush admitted to getting behind with the new car. It’s obvious that there’s no Chevy favortism. Let’s stay focused on reality.
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Ah! Logic! Thank you Kevin in Martinsville!
on Jul 28th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Kevin in Martinsville
I dont drink the Coolaide that Chevy has better teams!
Lets see in 1998 after Chevy had dominated the point titles in the ninties they let GM have a new SB2 engine!
Then in 2007 after winning the most point titles again and leading apox 70% of the laps, wining 90% of the races at Talledaga, and 65% of Daytona 500s not counting Clash, Busch races etc and 70% of laps leds what does Nascar do, let them have a New RO7!
Just let another brand dominate like this and you will see consistent rule changes!
Remember the 2000 Daytona? it was the last time another brand dominated Speedweeks and Nascar made sure it did not happen again!
Gannisi tried Dodge and and seen the odds were stacked and switch to Chevy and all of a sudden he is a winner!
Nascar attitude is if Chevy is not winning racing is not right, dont other brands have the rights to dominate in Nascar?
In Nascar you are only allowed to dominate with a ‘bowtie on the hood”
on Jul 29th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Roush is an engineering power house. They do a lot of OEM design & engineering. With all this brain power, money & great drivers available, Roush should have more than 2 Championships to his name. How Mark Martin never won a championship is a crime. Had he been a Childress or Hendrick driver, he would have a few championships to his name. I think Jack Roush gets in his own way. It all starts at the top.
on Jul 30th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Kevin
Jack Roush had he been fielding Nascars brand of Choice Chevy with all the favoritism toward GM would have had probably a lot more point titles!
Roush who I admire gets bad rap because HE HAS SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!
As far a point titles he has more than any Ford Team 2 since 1972!
I would love to see Chad and Jimmy Johnson switch brands of cars and lets see how good they are!!! before the second point title his wings would have been clipped