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About a month ago, rumors started to surface that Jamie McMurray had been handed his walking papers from car owner, Jack Roush, and that this would be his final season with Roush-Fenway Racing. Despite immediate denials by both McMurray and Geoff Smith (President of Operations at Roush-Fenway Racing), most of us – myself included – still bought into the rumors and pegged McMurray as a sure bet to be one of the drivers petitioning for a ride this off-season. But, a month later, after seeing how some of the other Silly Season rumors and deals have panned out, I’ve got to ask, does it really make sense for Roush to give him the boot?

McMurray’s certainly had a rough go of things since joining Roush, and I don’t think anyone would deny that. Once thought to be a solid Chase contender, McMurray had the worst season of his career in 2006 – his first year with Roush – when he tallied only 7 top-ten finishes en route to a 25th place finish in the standings. Things got mildly better in ‘07 when Jamie picked up the second win of his career and finished 17th in points, but they started 2008 right back at square one when the no. 26 team dropped outside of the top-35 in owner’s points immediately following Bristol.

Though their season has mildly improved since Bristol and the team has worked their way up to 23rd in the standings, McMurray continues to be viewed by many as the weak link in the organization and that the team is still under-performing. But, still … does it make sense to let him go at this point? The fact of the matter is that Roush will be forced to cease operations on one of their five race teams at the completion of the 2009 racing season, and therein lies the problems. Roush has five drivers, but only four cars ….. you do the math.

With all the names that have been tossed around as potential movers for next year, Roush-Fenway has very quietly perhaps led the way in this year’s Silly Season negotiations, locking up Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle to extensions to continue racing for the organization. That leaves just McMurray and the young David Ragan vying for that final ride, and it’s already been made clear that they’re trying to lock up David to a long-term deal as well. Okay, so now that I’ve given you all the evidence you need to conclude that McMurray is in fact the odd man out, it probably looks like I’ve contradicted my entire argument, right? Wrong.

So what if they already know that they’re going to have to get rid of McMurray by the end of ‘09, the fact remains that they need somebody to drive that car next season. With Mark Martin already being nabbed up by Hendrick Motorsports, there’s not a single driver on the market that they could sign to a one year deal that would give them a better shot next season than McMurray could. What are they gonna do, get Ryan Newman or Martin Truex Jr. for a 2009 contract and then send them packing? Not very likely. At this stage in their careers, any marquee driver that could potentially become available is going to be looking to land somewhere that they can remain at until the latter stages of their career. They’re looking for a team that can give them long-term championship contending status, not a one year run with a number five car in the organization.

As for McMurray, while there are currently a couple of top-notch rides technically “available,” the ride at Joe Gibbs Racing will likely be assigned to Joey Logano, and many people also believe that should Ryan Newman leave Penske, the no. 12 car may wind up in the hands of current test driver, David Stremme. That would leave the no. 33 car at RCR as the remaining frontrunner, but that car will begin the season already outside of the top-35 in owner points. Jamie’s best bet may be to wait to make a switch until we try to sort through this all again next season, or he may actually be just as well off to see if something happens in a Roush-Yates deal that would send his team to racec for Yates Racing next season.

As has been proven time and time again in this crazy world of NASCAR, anything can – and probably will – happen.  But, again, I ask you ….. does it really make sense for either side for this tandem to split prior to 2009? No, it doesn’t.

Post from: EveryJoe

Jamie McMurray Likely to Remain at Roush

Roush Racing president Geoff Smith is obviously appealing NASCAR’s decision to dock Carl Edwards of 25 points in the midst of his bid to win his first Cup Championship.  Smith stated that the rule infraction actually hurt Carl’s car rather than helping it, and that the rule is actually in place to address restrictor plate races (as opposed to downforce races).  The Roush President also claims that if you do the math that a 25 point penalty assessed to a Chase contender serves as a much harsher penalty than to a non-chase contender based on the total number of points they’re competing for.  Smith says that the team should have been hit with no more than ten driver points.

Let me ask you this, Mr. Smith … shouldn’t a team be scrutinized more harshly because they’re competing for a championship?  It’s no secret that NASCAR has some serious issues with their schematics for awarding penalties, as there’s absolutely no consistency there.  Earlier this year at Darlington in May, the number 8 Budweiser team was levied with a $100,000 fine, a six-race suspension for their Crew Chief, and Dale Earnhardt Junior was penalized 100 driver points, which ultimately cost him his chances of making the Chase four months later.  Granted, that incident involved an actual illegal part on the car, but all the same, an infraction is an infraction, and an infraction is usually caused by somebody attempting to cheat.  Regardless of the consistency issues that NASCAR has with their penalties, though, what it all really comes down to is the fact that somewhere along the way somebody has to be accounted for.  This is not little league baseball where the umpire might be willing to turn the other cheek for an unintentional rule violation, this is NASCAR – the competition is the absolute best of the best and the dollar signs are huge.  As an avid fan of the sport, I expect more from the teams that fall into the upper tier.  Now, I know, I know … it is very likely that this particular incident was not a blatant attempt to gain an advantage, but all the same, I also expect those teams to have such a level of attention to detail that these things do not happen.

Did the infraction help Edwards’ car?  Probably not.  Did it hinder the car’s performance?  Doubtful.  Am I being too harsh on the no. 99 Office Depot team?  I don’t think so, but then again, maybe I just expect too much from guys that consider a six-figure annual salary to be a bad year.  I actually like Carl Edwards, and I very rarely ever complain when a fellow Missourian brings home a trophy, but I find it absolutely appalling that this race team was only hit with the loss of twenty-five points for this incident.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fair Is Fair – Or Is It?