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Must credit Winston-Salem Journal
By MIKE MULHERN
Winston-Salem Journal
Jamie McMurray drove one of the best races of his NASCAR career at Infineon Raceway on Sunday, going head to head with Juan Pablo Montoya. But, for the lack of maybe just another gallon of gas, he came up short.
"Sonoma was tough for the whole team," McMurray said. "I hate that we ran that well the entire race and then finished like we did (37th place)."
Certainly, McMurray's finish doesn't tell the whole story. But fuel-mileage races, such as Sunday's SaveMart 350, aren't always pretty.
"It's one of those deals where you take the gamble and hope for the best ... and the gamble didn't pay off for us," McMurray said. "Hopefully this weekend we can put ourselves in a better position where it isn't such a gamble at the end."
But Sunday's stop, Bob Bahre's New Hampshire International Speedway, can be a fuel-mileage track, too. The flat one-mile track hasn't been that kind to McMurray over the years, although his performance Sunday with the still-novel car of tomorrow bodes well for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300.
"Last year we just weren't very good up there, but I think with the new car we are taking it should be a pretty good weekend for us," McMurray said. "So far this season, we've done pretty well with the car of tomorrow, especially in qualifying."
That's a plus for crew chief Larry Carter.
"Larry has done a great job learning the aspects of this new car and making it work for me," McMurray said.
McMurray and Carter, along with several other teams, are testing at the Milwaukee Mile this week to prepare for Loudon.
For McMurray and the Jack Roush operation, this weekend's stop will have some added pressure, because it's the "home track" for their new partners, John Henry's Fenway Sports Group, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox.
"And on Friday night we are going to a game over at Fenway Park, which should be pretty exciting for everyone," McMurray said of the planned visit to the Red Sox-Texas Rangers game.
Carter, in Milwaukee testing, said: "Hopefully, we can figure out exactly what we need to do to make that car turn better, which has seemed to be the problem all season long with the car of tomorrow."
Also testing at Milwaukee for the stop at Loudon is Jeff Burton, a four-time winner in New Hampshire who might be back on a roll after finishing a strong third Sunday.
There are 10 races left until the Richmond cutoff for the 12-man Chase for the Championship.
"Obviously, as the races get closer to two or three to go (before Richmond), we've got a tremendous amount of emphasis put on them," Burton said.
Four of the next 10 also will be with the car of tomorrow.
Burton said that Loudon will not be easy at all for drivers, with the new car, first because that track has tricky corners to begin with.
"The big challenge is, the turns are so flat, and the groove is half-a-lane off the bottom," Burton said.
"The track has continued to gain grip; it used to be real easy to spin the tires, and we didn't have any rear grip. But today it is actually pretty good with rear grip.
"Getting the car to turn is your biggest battle in New Hampshire. And the car of tomorrow has changed things, for sure. We haven't run as well as we need to in the car of tomorrow so far, but that doesn't mean that we can't. That just means we've got to figure it out."
Bobby Labonte also ran well Sunday, only to be caught by fuel mileage, and he dropped to 33rd after running in the top five for most of the race.
How much that Sonoma run translate to this weekend isn't clear. But Labonte said one thing is clear -after NASCAR's harsh penalties on Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for minor body modifications, teams will be reluctant to go too far.
"There is more risk over reward in trying some things right now," Labonte said.
"There is more to be gained with the car of tomorrow, but our team hasn't had the car on the track enough yet (in testing). There is more that we can do, when we get more time with it.
"its possible NASCAR will give us leniency on some things, too. The chassis might be a possibility to open up, that won't cost the teams a bunch of money but give us more things to do on the car."
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
