McMurray wins truck race at Martinsville

Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004.
Martinsville Speedway.
Kroger 200 NCTS


 

Jamie McMurray's victory Sunday in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville
Speedway gave Dodge a 140-131 advantage over Chevrolet in the
season-long manufacturers standings with three races remaining. Bobby
Hamilton finished 26th in the No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram and fell to
second in the standings, one point behind Dennis Setzer. Ted Musgrave
finished fifth and remained third in the standings but pulled within 91
points of the leader.

 

JAMIE McMURRAY (No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Dodge Ram) - Winner

"I've been real fortunate to get in really good equipment. We had a
really good truck here. We've been good every time we've been in it. We
just haven't been able to put that win together. It's real cool to get
it here at Martinsville. This is probably one of my favorite racetracks.
I love to come here. It's different than the typically mile and a halves
we go to every week. They did a great job repaving the track. It's
really special to get the win here. It's harder to pass here than in the
past. Every time they repave a racetrack it seems to take awhile. I
could see I could catch those guys, but I really didn't know if I was
going to be able to pass 'em. They tangled up, and track position was
real important. We've tried to take the setup from the truck and put it
in the car in the past and every time we do it it's so loose I couldn't
drive it. It's definitely a momentum builder going into tomorrow.
They've got really good equipment and the crew chief does a great job.
He makes good calls. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It
worked today.

 

"I've said this five times today, but I've been really fortunate to get
to drive for people that have equipment capable of winning, whether it's
Jim's truck or James Finch's Busch car or Chip and Felix's Cup car. You
can't do it without good equipment.

 

"This place is so tight. When guys get spun out, and everyone does it,
you just mash the gas and try to spin all the way around. You try to
figure out which way to go and sometimes you make the wrong decision.
It's so close. You get run into from behind and you run into the guy in
front of you.

 

"I could see that I was catching those guys (24 and 16) but not fast
enough. When I saw the 16 trying to pass the 24, I knew the leader
wasn't going to let him go. I was on the inside of Rick Crawford coming
off of two, and I heard my spotter say, 'you're the leader.' He said
stay low and you're the leader.

 

"That was my fault (at New Hampshire), so I wasn't mad at anybody. All
of these racetracks, it doesn't seem like it matters where you go, but
track position is so key. It was that way at Loudon, Richmond and it was
that way here. I wanted to pit as soon as I could and wait for a lot of
cautions. I thought if I could get out front they couldn't pass me. It
was very disappointing at Loudon to run out of gas, but we had a fourth
or fifth-place truck. Today, I thought we had a second or third-place
truck."

 

TED MUSGRAVE (No. 1 Mopar Dodge Ram) - Finished fifth

"Could anybody actually say that Martinsville turned into an aero track?
I got tight when I got behind everybody. It's such a one-groove
racetrack right now you've got to follow the guy and try to get him up
off the corner. A little aero push all the time. When I was out front or
in clean air, I could really run fast. I'm really happy for Ultra. The 1
truck ran in the top five and the 2 truck got a win. Points get close
now. You can't knock what's going on in the truck series. Every year it
seems like it comes down to the last race for the championship. We're
getting close and hopefully we can pull this off. Whatever makes it
exciting for the fans."

 

BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 4 Square D Dodge Ram) - Falls to second in
standings, one point behind Dennis Setzer

"I knew it coming in here. They did a great job resurfacing this place,
but the speeds are almost too fast to race. It was a heck of a race for
the fans, but I've always said it's easier to be chased. Now I've got to
chase and they've got to worry about it. We're going to win this thing.
They're talking about firing their crew chief, and I'm trying to hire
him. They've all kinds of turmoil going on over there. Me or Ted one is
going to win it. They haven't got a chance. I'll guarantee you they're
worried about Darlington and Homestead.

 

"We'll get a top five at Phoenix. I don't care. I'm trying to win it for
Dodge. I promise you they don't pay enough money for me to get up on
stage and sit there for two hours. I'm just trying to win it for Dodge.
I passed some guys on the outside today. It's a great racetrack. It's
going to be a heck of a Cup race. I thought it was a great race today.
It's still Martinsville. We had a lot of crashes today, but fans like to
see crashes. We can't 

crash on mile and a half tracks any more because we hurt people real
bad. We'll just come here and do it all and give fans their money's
worth. It's a great racetrack. It's a great place to come to. There will
be two grooves tomorrow. There will be faster cars out there and they'll
be running two wide and keep the marbles blown off.

 

"I'm the same every week. The minute you worry about that stuff.... look
at Dennis. They've been worried about it, spying on me and stuff.
They've been falling back every week. We have to wreck to give it to
'em. I'm not worrying about it. We started points racing the last race.
We came in here points racing. Now all we've got to do is go win the
last three, which we've won Homestead last year. We've won every
Darlington we've ever been to and we finished fifth at Phoenix. What do
we have to worry about?"

 

CHAD CHAFFIN (No. 18 Dickies Dodge Ram)

"That's the way racing is. Everybody can't win and run in the top 10. I
got in that wreck on the front straightaway. I don't know who caused it
or what happened, but I came off turn four and the track was blocked. I
went to the inside and there was a hole for an instance, but I ran into
it and busted the radiator. We could have gained some points today, but
it didn't kill us too bad. The guys around us had trouble to. It would
have been great to have picked up some."

 

STEVE PARK (No. 62 Orleans Racing Dodge Ram)

"The Orleans Dodge was pretty decent at the start of the race. I guess
it turned out to be an OK day for us in the points. It was an ugly day
on the track, but it looks like the guys we were racing in points had a
bad day too."