NASCAR Cup Series

McMurray still feels like Joplin is home

Published May. 28, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Jamie McMurray has had Joplin, Mo., on his mind all week long.

In Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, he’ll also have the town on the side of his car.

McMurray and his primary sponsor Bass Pro Shops have partnered with Convoy of Hope, a charity group that works on disaser response and international children’s feeding initiatives, for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. The group has been assisting with relief after an EF-5 tornado hit Joplin on May 22.

“When you see the pictures, it just makes it more real,” said McMurray, a native of Joplin. “It’s incredible to see the damage the tornado did.

“The high school that was destroyed is the high school I attended ... They showed pictures of the neighborhood I grew up in, and it was gone.

“It makes it more real when you know what it used to look like.”

Although McMurray and his family have all moved to North Carolina, he admits “Joplin is home to me ... For a long time, it will be about Joplin.”

Convoy of Hope also helped after Hurricane Katrina.

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