CONCORD - There will be no championship for Jamie McMurray, but this season will be about moments.
McMurray added another special memory Saturday night when he won at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His career-high three wins this season have come at among the sport's most significant tracks: Daytona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.
Although he won the Daytona 500 this year, his most special moment, he admits, didn't come there.
It came at Indianapolis.
"The last lap at Indy," McMurray said. "That's a race that every team puts so much work into ... there's so much extra little detail that goes into that and everybody wants to win that race. You just always hear everybody talk about it."
Just as meaningful was that he had time to enjoy that win.
"It takes 50 seconds to go around there (for a lap) and the last 50 seconds at Indy was probably just one of the coolest things ever for me, to savor that," he said.
Even so, Daytona was not far from McMurray's thoughts Saturday night after he passed Kyle Busch on a restart and led the final 21 laps.
McMurray celebrated his Daytona 500 win in February with tears. It was understandable. He had lost his ride the year before at Roush Fenway Racing when that organization had to cut a team to meet NASCAR's four-time requirement. The promise of rising career had faded until that Daytona 500 win.
Eight months later, McMurray wanted to explain why he had been so emotional after that win and how his life has changed.
"After the season that I had, or the last four years I had, I found the power of prayer and that it's something that I really believe in," McMurray said. "I was crying, obviously because I was happy, but also because you feel like a prayer has been answered.
"Everyone wants to be successful and you want to do well in life, so when you feel like that's been answered, it's emotional. I thought about it the last eight or 10 laps (Saturday). I was like, "If I win this race, Lord, if you don't throw a caution ... and I win this race, I'm going to explain to people my feelings and why I felt that way."
He could be more noticeable next year. Consider runner-up finishes in the Southern 500, Coca-Cola 600 and at Talladega this season, and it's likely that McMurray will be picked by many to make next year's title Chase. Inconsistency, though, kept him out of the top 12 this year, thus he's not eligible for the championship.
Instead, the title race could be settled among three drivers - Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
Johnson overcame an early spin that dropped him as far back as 37th to finish third. Hamlin placed fourth and Harvick, who had not had a top 10 at Charlotte since 2003, placed eighth. Johnson leads Hamlin by 41 points and Harvick by 77 points heading into this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. No other driver is within 150 points of Johnson.
"I think we proved to ourselves more than anything that we can come back and fight through issues and still get a good finish,'' Johnson said. I think (Saturday) helps our team build confidence and we'll, hopefully, have this fight in us through the rest of the season."
Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com
For more from the track, visit Dustin Long's Chase blog. Inside the championship chase
DRIVER FINISH POINTS TOTAL BEHIND
1. Jimmie Johnson 3rd 170 5,843 --
2. Denny Hamlin 4th 165 5,802 -41
3. Kevin Harvick 8th 147 5,766 -77
4. Jeff Gordon 23rd 99 5,687 -156
5. Kyle Busch 2nd 180 5,666 -177
6. Tony Stewart 21st 100 5,666 -177
7. Carl Edwards 12th 132 5,643 -200
8. Greg Biffle 5th 160 5,618 -225
9. Kurt Busch 30th 73 5,606 -237
10. Jeff Burton 20th 108 5,604 -239
11. Matt Kenseth 6th 155 5,587 -256
12. Clint Bowyer 17th 117 5,543 -300
- MAKING HIS MOVE: Jimmie Johnson overcame an early spin to score another top-five finish and extend his points lead.
- DOWN THE CHUTE: Jeff Gordon. A variety of problems caused him to finish 23rd and lose 71 points to series leader Jimmie Johnson.
- HE SAID IT: Darian Grubb, crew chief for Tony Stewart after Stewart's 21st-place finish: "It was just a comedy of errors. We evidently just missed it on the setup."
- OBSERVATION: To put Jeff Gordon's title chances into perspective: No driver has come from more than 146 points back after five races in the Chase to win the championship. Gordon is 156 points back.
- NEXT RACE: The series heads to Martinsville Speedway where Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have combined to win each of the last eight races there.
- Dustin Long, staff writer
Jamie McMurray's three wins have come at significant tracks: Daytona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.
