The NASCAR Sprint cup Series begins the second half of the 2008 season tonight at Daytona International Raceway in the Coke Zero 400.Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray won the race a year ago and would like to visit Victory Lane again tonight.
“I’m looking forward to it,” McMurray said. “We’ve actually built a brand-new car there. We didn’t run very well in the 500 (at the start of the season).
“The guys have really learned a lot about the Superspeedway program with the Car of Tomorrow. We’ve built a brand-new car to go there and look forward to it.”
McMurray’s first Cup Series start came at Talladega Superspeedway in 2002, so the driver is familiar with racing on the largest tracks on the circuit.
“I seem to have been more successful at the Superspeedway races, whether it’s at Daytona or Talladega,” McMurray said. “That’s always been places that I’ve run well at. You know, I enjoy doing that.
“I tend to be able to get with the right guys. When you go to the speedway races, there’s always a group of, I don’t know, six or eight guys that always run well at those. All those guys always want to get together and help each other.”
McMurray will have plenty of competition for the win tonight. Dodge drivers fared well at the track in the season opener with Ryan Newman taking the checkered flag in the Daytona 500 in February. Newman said he likes his chances of a repeat.
“Winning the Daytona 500 was a dream come true — not just for me, but for everyone who has helped me along the way,” he said. “My family. Penske Racing. It was really just a special moment for all of us. I don’t think that I realized the significance of winning the 50th Running of the Daytona 500 immediately, but I knew that something special had happened the moment I crossed the finish line. We had a brand new car down there for that race, and they took it away from us and put it in the Daytona 500 Experience.
“The guys at the shop went back to work and built us another car, and I don’t see any reason we can’t go back to Daytona this weekend and try to win again. Our goal is to just have a good weekend and make up points.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers are always a threat to win on the superspeedways as well. The guys at Joe Gibbs Racing can’t be discounted either. Two-time champion Tony Stewart is known for his strong runs during the middle of the season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the No. 20 Toyota in Victory Lane at Daytona.
“I don’t know,” Stewart said about his winning streak during the middle of the season. “I really don’t. The only thing that we can think of is that it seems that when the tracks get hotter and slipperier, that’s when we do a little better.
“I don’t know if it’s just the set of tracks that we come around this time of year or what. It is because for nine straight years it’s been this way, so I don’t want to break the string of 10 years in a row. Hopefully we’ll get on that run again here soon.”
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 15 Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc., will start the Coke Zero 400 from the pole after posting a qualifying speed of 185.916.
