Jamie McMurray and wife welcome baby boy

Jamie and Christy McMurray at the Daytona champion's breakfast
in February. (Motorsports Images & Archives)

After an incredible season, Jamie McMurray and his wife Christy have something else to be thankful for this year. On Thanksgiving, the couple welcomed their first child, son Carter Scott McMurray, into the world at 8:34 a.m. Carter is 7 lbs, 12 ounces and 20 inches long, according to McMurray's official website.

The 2010 season has been prolific in more ways than one for McMurray's No. 1 team at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. McMurray won three Sprint Cup races, including two of NASCAR's premier events, the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400, in what has been likely the best season of his career. The McMurrays' new addition also marks the eighth - you read that right, eighth - baby born to members of the No. 1 team this year.

The birth is the latest in the NASCAR baby boom. McMurray joins fellow Sprint Cup drivers Elliot Sadler, Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman in expanding their families in 2010. Just over a week ago Newman and his wife Krissie welcomed a baby girl.

But the baby boom isn't over yet. Sam Hornish Jr. as well as SPEED personality Wendy Venturini are expecting babies next month.

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NNS Race Recap: McMurray Holds Off Kyle Busch for NASCAR Nationwide Series Win

McMurray Holds Off Kyle Busch for NASCAR Nationwide Series Win

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 4, 2010)

HAMPTON, Ga.—Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and stopped Busch one spot short of a historic win Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet, McMurray asserted his superiority over the final 40 of 195 laps to win the Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The victory, the eighth of McMurray’s Nationwide career, was his first since November 2004 at Darlington.

Busch is tied with Sam Ard for the series’ single-season wins record with 10.

Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Brad Keselowski finished 12th and saw his advantage over second-place Edwards trimmed to 332 points.

“We unloaded today and had pretty much the fastest car off the truck,” McMurray said. “It was just pretty loose, and we just did a really good job of adjusting on it.”

The good adjustments continued late into the race, McMurray said.


“At the end, Pops (crew chief Tony Eury Sr.) adjusted on it, and it was pretty fast, even on the short runs.”

McMurray led 43 of the final 47 laps, including the last 23.

“It’s the same thing every week,” McMurray said. “The car out front—the clean air’s huge.”

McMurray’s short-run speed proved decisive in a race that took a series of intriguing turns, including one sequence where only one car was scored on the lead lap.

Harvick took four tires under caution on Lap 62, while Busch and most other contenders chose to restart on old rubber when the field came to green on Lap 65. After restarting 12th, Harvick passed McMurray for the lead on Lap 70.

By Lap 112, he had the rest of the field at least one lap down, after Busch and other drivers on old tires came to the pits under green. Harvick gave up the lead to Busch when he made a green-flag stop for tires and fuel on Lap 120.

Harvick left the pits eight seconds behind Busch but cut that margin in half before Ryan Newman spun Trevor Bayne on the backstretch to cause the third caution of the race and bunch the field. McMurray was first out of the pits under caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 153.

McMurray stayed out front until contact from Stenhouse sent Reed Sorenson’s Toyota hard into the outside wall on Lap 168. Keselowski and 11th-place finisher Josh Wise stayed on the track under the caution, but they quickly surrendered the top two spots when the field restarted.

McMurray surged to the front with Busch in pursuit, but Busch was unable to make up significant ground in the closing laps and finished .286 seconds back.

“We just didn’t quite have enough there on short runs to keep up with them,” Busch said. “Once we got about 25 or 30 laps on (the tires), we could really start reeling them in and pass them. Typically, it’s always a long-run car that wins here—Harvick beat me last year with a long-run car—but that wasn’t the case tonight.”

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McMurray Kisses the Bricks: Brickyard 400 Recap

(July 25, 2010) INDIANAPOLIS — Car owner Chip Ganassi got the expected result from an unexpected source in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as race winner Jamie McMurray joined one of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing’s most exclusive clubs.

Restarting second thanks to a two-tire call on a Lap 140 pit stop, McMurray powered his No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet past Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 Chevy on a restart with 11 laps left and pulled away to beat Harvick to the finish line by 1.391 seconds.

“I get to kiss the bricks,” McMurray said after he crossed the stripe, adding another milestone to his career and Ganassi’s unbelievable year.

McMurray gave Ganassi his first Daytona 500 win in February. In May, Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 in one of Ganassi’s cars. On Sunday, Ganassi hit the unprecedented trifecta. No other car owner has won all three major races, much less in the same year.

At the same time, McMurray joined Dale Jarrett (1996) and Jimmie Johnson (2006) as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.

 “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet,” Ganassi said. “You wouldn’t dare to dream this. You wouldn’t dare to dream this kind of year.”

The Brickyard victory, however, had a bittersweet edge to it. McMurray’s teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya, tabbed as the driver more likely to finish the triple for his owner, did nothing to dispel that notion early on.

Montoya led a race-high 86 laps but lost the lead when six teams—including those of McMurray and Harvick—opted for two tires on the Lap 140 pit stop under caution for debris. Montoya took four tires.

Montoya foundered in dirty air, dropped four positions and ultimately lost control of his car and crashed on Lap 145. For the second straight year, the Brickyard 400 ended in heartbreak for Montoya, who led 116 of 160 laps last year only to be thwarted by a pit road speeding penalty.

Greg Biffle finished third in his No. 16 Ford, the only non-Chevrolet to qualify in the top 10. Clint Bowyer was fourth and Tony Stewart fifth. Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch completed the top 10.

McMurray was concerned when Harvick passed him two laps after a restart on Lap 143.
“When Kevin got by me a few laps from the end, I thought it was over,” McMurray said. “It’s unreal right now. How about Chip winning the (Indianapolis) 500 and both of these big races? We’re just a great team right now.

“Honestly, when Juan was leading and I was in second (before the debris caution on Lap 137)—I’m a big believer in fate—I thought this was how it was meant to be. I won the Daytona 500, Dario won the 500, and I thought Juan was going to win this one. I’m just shocked I won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.”

Harvick was philosophical. He could afford to be, having increased his Cup series lead to 184 points over second-place Jeff Gordon, who finished 23rd.

“We took a gamble there at the end to take two tires,” Harvick said. “On the first restart (Lap 143), it took off great. We were able to run Jamie down and pass him. Second restart (Lap 150), it didn’t take off so great. Just got tight. He drove around the outside of me.

“I guess just the first cycle on those new right-side tires carried us through. We were just tight the whole second restart. But still — a great day. Took a chance to try to win the race. All but capitalized on it and came up one short.”

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Busch vs. Busch: Infineon

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Brad Coleman again was in the seat of No. 18. He finished sixth after qualifying fourth. He finished third, third and first in three of the four practices and led one time for seven laps.

Cup: Busch had a horrible weekend at Sonoma, one he probably wants to forget. After finishing ninth, 11th and 24th in practices, he started 27th. On the 11th lap, he was involved in an accident with Jamie McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, Elliot Sadler and Clint Bowyer. While the others were able to get back on the track, Busch wasn't so lucky and went behind the wall for 33 laps. Upon returning, he received a penalty on lap 87 for pulling up to pit. The race finally ended and Busch finished 39th, 34 laps down. He lost the second spot in the standings, falling to third, being replaced by race winner Jimmie Johnson.




Kurt Busch

The elder Busch was on track to have a great race...



The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

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The NASCAR Baby Boom Continues: McMurray and Wife Expecting First Child In December

It looks like Speed TV's Wendy Venturini won't be the only one spending the off season learning how to change diapers and adjusting to life with a newborn baby. Jamie McMurray and his wife Christy will be expecting their first child in December.

McMurray let the news slip on Friday that the couple are due on December 5th. According to a Twitter update posted by @nateryan McMurray is getting parenting advice from Matt Kenseth. Kenseth and his wife Katie welcomed a daughter in 2009.



This pregnancy is just one in a recent string of NASCAR related pregnancies. Jimmie Johnson and wife Chandra are expecting their first child in the coming weeks, Jeff Gordon and wife Ingrid expect to welcome a son in August, and Juan Pablo Montoya and wife Connie are expecting their third child in July.

On behalf of the entire Skirts and Scuffs team we would like to congratulate the McMurray's on the happy news.

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Kelly Bires out of No. 88 ride at JR Motorsports

JR Motorsports enacts driver change for No. 88 team. Jamie McMurray to drive No. 88 Chevrolet in select races.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 13, 2010) – JR Motorsports will undergo a driver change to its No. 88 NASCAR Nationwide Series team effective this weekend when the series races at Texas Motor Speedway, general manager and co-owner Kelley Earnhardt announced today.

The organization has released 25-year-old Kelly Bires from his contractual driving duties of the No. 88 Chevrolet. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/McDonalds Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, has agreed to a deal that puts him in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevy for nine races. Those races include the six upcoming Nationwide Series events – Texas (April 17), Talladega (April 24), Richmond (April 30), Darlington (May 7), Dover (May 15) and Charlotte (May 30) – plus Chicagoland (July 9), Atlanta (Sept. 4) and the return trip to Charlotte (Oct. 15). Hellmann's will be the primary sponsor in all but two of those races, and the Suave Men brand will be featured on the No. 88 at Chicagoland Speedway.

A native of Joplin, Mo., McMurray is the reigning Daytona 500 champion. He is a seven-time winner in the Nationwide Series with 27 top-fives, 59 top-10s, and three pole awards. No driver decisions for the No. 88 have been determined beyond McMurray's nine races.

"We are extremely appreciative of Kelly Bires and wish him the best," Kelley Earnhardt said. "Internally, it was evident the chemistry that is imperative for us to succeed in this highly competitive industry was simply not there. That is the fault of no one person. We owe it to our fans and sponsors to make necessary adjustments in an effort to put our best product on the track, and we'll continue evaluating our progress until we are confident that our full potential is being reached."

Under the direction of crew chief Tony Eury Sr., the No. 88 team has finished third in the Nationwide Series point standings each of the past two seasons, accumulating six total victories. In six races this season, the team has one top-10 finish (seventh at Auto Club Speedway). Bires competed in six races for JRM dating back to last November at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He raced the No. 88 in five of the six Nationwide Series events this year, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

The alteration to the No. 88 team does not change plans for the No. 7 team, which presently is to run the full Nationwide Series schedule with multiple drivers. Landon Cassill began a part-time stint last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, becoming the third driver this season to get behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolets prepared by crew chief and co-owner Tony Eury Jr. He will race the car this weekend at Texas. Danica Patrick has 10 of her scheduled 13 races remaining on the 2010 slate. Scott Wimmer recently completed a two-race commitment and posted season-best finishes of 10th at Bristol Motor Speedway and seventh at Nashville Superspeedway. Driving vacancies left on the No. 7 schedule are still to be determined.

Release courtesy of JR Motorsports

PHOTO FROM NASCAR MEDIA

What do you think of the driver change? Leave your comments below.

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San Francisco Honors Jamie McMurray

Courtesy of Photobucket
Taken by phatken91

The Victory Tour

This past Wednesday, San Francisco hosted Jamie McMurray, the 2010 Champion of NASCAR's Daytona 500. Jamie and his wife, Christy, were escorted around the 'City by the Bay' in a motorized San Francisco Cable Car. Lucky fans who purchased a special ticket package offered by Infineon Raceway, that included the cable car ride in SF along with weekend tickets to the Toyota/Save Mart 350 race.

Daytona 500 Champion Jamie McMurray hangs out of a trolley in San Francisco during his Victory Tour.

(Ezra Shaw: Getty Images)

The 'Victory Lap' began at SF Giants Willie Mays Plaza where the McMurrays were greeted by the S.F. Giants VP Russ Stanley. Jamie was given an official team jersey, with his name and car number. The tour was led by an escort from the California Highway Patrol.

Daytona 500 Champ McMurray addresses the crowd at San Francisco's Willie Mays Plaza Wednesday during his tour of the city.

(Ezra Shaw: Getty Images)

The welcoming committee included Northern California race fans as well as the media. Jamie stated, "I have to say, New York was cool, but San Francisco has been awesome. The weather is beautiful and it's so great to see the fans come out here. As a driver, you can't imagine what this means to me. It's been wonderful."

His visit included a lesson on how to crack crab with Grotto #9 co-owner Anthony Geraldi, a historic drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and a visit to the very popular and well known Ghirardeli Square. It was there that Jamie and Kristy enjoyed ice cream sundaes and were presented with a special basket of gourmet chocolate.

The Victory Tour was part of a ticket package sponsored by Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Ca. Jamie and his wife Christy were also given a commemorative magnum of Sonoma Valley wine by Infineon Raceway President Steve Page.

It was an Official start to the countdown of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 held June 18th-20th, Father's Day Weekend, at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway. McMurray and his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet along with 42 other NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will be 'Starting their Engines' to run the first of 2 road races during the 2010 NSC Season.

Tickets are still available online at http://www.Infineonraceway.com/ or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-870-RACE for more information.

Infineon Raceway offers a 2 for $99 package. Its referred to as Kasey's Korner. The package includes 2 Tickets in Turn 9 Terrace, and exclusive access to a Q&A session with defending 2009 Champion, Kasey Kahne, on Tuesday, April 13th.

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For additional information on the McMurray's trip to San Francisco and Kasey's Corner visit Infineonraceway.com 

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Amp Man

The Daytona 500 lived up to its hype. Even though we had a hole in the track which wasted a few hours or so of racing, we came out strong and had a great race - until the second hole problem. But finally the problem was fixed and the final moments were well worth it.

During the last laps, I held my breath. I was jumping for Jamie McMurray, but another driver had my eyes following his every move.

That day, Feb. 14, was my uncle’s birthday, and like me he is a huge NASCAR fan. However, he is a fan of Jeff Gordon and for his birthday, he was dead set Jeff was going to win. The last time a race was on his birthday was 1999; I was 7 and Jeff did win. It was a great birthday for my uncle, so you can somewhat understand why my uncle would want and hope for his favorite driver to win.

After the second red flag, I had to leave and head for the birthday dinner, hoping we would make it in time for the race, but I had my handy dandy Sprint phone which had my scanner on. Luck was on my side - or was it just the Amp? I will never know, but the race hadn’t started yet. We got our food and sat down and watched. My uncle was sure Jeff was going to take it; I wasn’t. The race was intense getting to those final laps.

Eating the birthday cake, I nearly dropped it watching Kasey Kahne spin and end his night. Two laps were remaining, sending us to the second green-white-checker. My eyes were wide. I took a drink of my Amp, but the taste of Amp and cake was not a good mix - leaves a bad taste!

My eyes were focused on Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Jamie. I was watching what Kevin had up his sleeve. I was so into this when I heard my uncle yell out “Junior to the middle!” My eyes shot open, my mouth gaping wide - there was my Amp Man, Dale Earnhardt Jr., heading toward the front.

From starting all the way back in 10th, I was shocked to say the least. But then I remembered this is Daytona and he is an Earnhardt. I stood up and dropped my cake; my eyes focused as the double Zero aka David Reutimann gives Junior a huge push. I watch as Junior shoots through the middle coming up on Jamie Mac. I was screaming, jumping yelling! My eyes were bulging out of my sockets I think.

I held in my breath and fell to my knees as the white checker flag waved. Jamie McMurray had won his first race with new team Earnhardt-Ganassi. I was happy for him and excited, but my eyes were following that 88 who made me the happiest teen in the world. To see my driver go from the crappy season we had in '09 to second in the Daytona 500 was a big sigh of relief and a good feeling.

I felt bad for my uncle. I knew he wanted Jeff to win, but I think seeing the smile on my face made up for it. I was told I hadn’t worn that smile in a while.

To all Jamie McMurray fans: what a race and what a great and proud feeling you are all feeling right now, the feeling of your driver's win.

To all my fellow Junior fans: it paid off. We kept strong for him; we stayed there through thick and thin. I don’t know about you, but I could have sworn I saw that black 3 racing tonight.

The 500 was everything I wanted: it was well worth the wait and well worth the two red flags we had.

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Photo: Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved from 22nd to second during two attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, but could not catch Jamie McMurray for the Daytona 500 victory. (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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