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Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.
Driver: Jamie McMurray
Team: No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
'08 Final Standing: 16th (-2875)
Best Race: Texas, Phoenix & Homestead (3rd-place)
Worst Race: Bristol (43rd-place)
Season in a box: I don't know if there was a driver who had more of a roller coaster season than Jamie McMurray, but the way the ride ended surely was pleasing for the driver from Joplin, Missouri.
Finishes of 26th, 22nd, 25th, 40th and 43rd led off the season for McMurray in a way that had no other description except for "embarrasing". After that dead-last result at Bristol, McMurray found himself 36th in points and soon after, reports surfaced that McMurray was done in the No. 26 at Roush Fenway at season's end.
The reports were never confirmed and McMurray improved marginally through the season. It was, however, until the season entered its final turn that the No. 26 showed some signs of the potential driver Jack Roush thought he was getting. After getting caught up in one of the many Talladega wrecks, McMurray posted a fifth-place finish the next week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Mechanical problems plagued the team the next weekend at Martinsville, but from there, the No. 26 was more than impressive with finishes of 7th, 3rd, 3rd and 3rd to end the season.
Through the crystal windshield:There was just one driver who finished the 2008 season stronger than Jamie McMurray's final three races and that was his teammate Carl Edwards. Other than Edwards -- two wins in two races will trump most drivers -- the three third-place finishes to finish out the season are a huge momentum booster for McMurray heading to 2009.
It's no secret that McMurray, in the last year of his Roush Fenway contract, has to make considerable gains in 2009 to find himself driving within the confines of the Roush organization that includes Yates Racing. He'll be aided in doing so by teaming up with his old friend and crew chief Donnie Wingo in a move that will be closely-watched after his impressive finish to 2008.
Next up: Martin Truex Jr.
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