MCMURRAY OVERCOMES PIT ROAD PENALTY FOR A 12TH-PLACE FINISH IN RICHMOND
No. 26 AFLAC FORD FUSION RECAP:
RICHMOND, Va. (September 7, 2007) - Jamie McMurray drove the No. 26 in Friday night's Emerson Radio 250 with Aflac on board as the primary sponsor for the final time this season. McMurray qualified third and had a great run going until a penalty on pit road sent him to the tail end of the longest line. From there he came back and earned a 12th-place finish.
McMurray dropped back from his third position at the start of the race due to his car handling loose into the corners and tight through the middle. McMurray was back in the seventh position on lap 35 when the second caution came out. Crew chief Chad Norris brought McMurray down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
The green flag came back out on lap 40 with McMurray sitting eighth. McMurray made his way up to sixth on lap 47 and held onto that position until the caution flag came out on lap 118. The No. 26 Aflac Ford Fusion was still a little tight so McMurray came down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. NASCAR determined that McMurray entered into his pit stall more than the three allowed stalls in front of where he was pitting and was penalized. The penalty had him go to the tail end of the longest line for the restart. The penalty left him sitting 15th for the green-flag restart on lap 126.
By lap 133 McMurray had moved up to 14th and held onto that position until the caution came out on lap 159. He then came down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. His team gained two spots for him on pit road which set him up 12th for the green-flag restart on lap 167. McMurray took over 11th on lap 182, but did not like how the tires the team just put on were handling.
He may not have liked that set of tires, but he kept advancing through the field. McMurray was up to ninth when the caution came out on lap 235. With 15 laps remaining McMurray came down pit road for his final pit stop of the evening. His team gave him a right-side two-tire pit stop and fuel.
McMurray maintained his track position and was ninth for the green-flag restart on lap 241. The next caution came out on lap 245 and McMurray had gotten shuffled back on the previous restart and was now sitting 12th. The field was stopped on lap 247 while NASCAR cleaned up debris on the track which set them up for a green-white-checkered finish. The field took the green flag on lap 250 with McMurray 12th. McMurray held onto the 12th position until the checkered flag waved.
"Richmond is definitely not one of my better tracks but we had a pretty good car," said McMurray. "We should have at least had a top-10 finish, but I kind of got shuffled back a little at the end. I just couldn't get around the cars in front of me and ran out of laps in the race. The Aflac Ford Fusion was really good and I'm really proud of my team."
