NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray is 10th in the standings, a precarious position heading into Saturday’s 500-lap slugfest at half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
It has been determined that the second Chase for the Nextel Cup will include only the top 10 drivers. So 33 others are gunning for McMurray’s spot or better.
“This weekend’s race at Bristol is incredibly important for us,” McMurray said in a release. “This will be an interesting race because so much can happen at Bristol, and most of it is out of your control. This race could definitely change up the points significantly, especially the guys from seventh to 13th.
“Hopefully we’ll miss the wrecks, run up front all night and get a good solid finish out of it.”
McMurray has an average finish of 10.6 in five starts at Bristol. He finished seventh in this night race a year ago.
“We’ve run well at Bristol in the past, and we had a strong test there just a couple of weeks ago,” McMurray said. “We’re taking one of my favorite cars, and I’m counting on it to run good this weekend. I know the guys will do a great job getting it race-ready.”
NASCAR a real Fortune
NASCAR is on pace to post its highest television ratings this year, becoming the first professional sport to set its all-time high since the NFL in 1981, according to Fortune magazine in its Sept. 5 issue, which hits newsstands Monday.
The magazine also reports 106 of the Fortune 500 companies have become NASCAR sponsors, more than any other sport, and that NASCAR.com is this year’s second-most popular site behind BlackBerry.
“Once focused on simply bringing order to the cheerful, low-down chaos of stock-car racing, where vehicle standards used to shift from track to track, the business today is run like a Fortune 500 company, dot-com and media conglomerate rolled into one,” the article reads.
Footnotes
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expanding his role as a car owner, announcing plans Tuesday to field a team in the Busch Series next season. JR Motorsports, the business Earnhardt owns independent of all his other ventures, will run Mark McFarland in the No. 88 Chevrolet. The U.S. Navy will sponsor the team. “When I started JR Motorsports, I didn’t have a vision or a dream or a five-year plan,” Earnhardt said. “We have basically let this thing grow legs on its own.” … Second-year driver Kasey Kahne, who will make his fourth start at Bristol on Saturday, likens the half-mile track to an unruly bar. “Just intense every lap,” he said during Tuesday’s teleconference. “When you get on the track and practice, if you’re not up to speed in your first corner and go for it, you get run over from behind. It’s so fast, so loud, everybody’s in one spot. It’s really exciting. It’s a lot of fun.” … NASCAR levied penalties against driver Ken Schrader and his team for illegal roof height in Sunday’s race at Michigan. Schrader had 25 driver points deducted, and another 25 points were taken away from car owner Beth Ann Morgenthau. Crew chief David Hyder was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
