McMurray holds 9pt buffer in the playoff bubble fight

The driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy did himself no favors by qualifying 26th for the Apache Warriors 400. 

He’ll be the last of the 16 playoff drivers to roll off the grid at the Monster Mile.

“I struggled to get the front to turn through the middle and then as soon as I’d get to the throttle, I couldn’t push the gas down because I would be loose,” McMurray said. “This is one of those places that requires a lot of throttle and I don’t know. 

“I thought our balance was actually really good in practice. We didn’t change a whole lot. But the track slowed down and our car didn’t like that.”

McMurray’s car was loose on entry during his qualifying run. So the Matt McCall-led team went to work on Saturday during practice to improve the balance. In second practice, McMurray bounced up to fourth on the speed chart for single-lap runs. He was second only to Kyle Busch in the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average category on fresh tires. McMurray’s best lap was sixth-quick in Happy Hour and he was fourth in Best 10 Consecutive Lap averages. 

Taking on the Monster Mile

Without actually climbing behind the wheel of Monster Energy Cup car at Dover, McMurray says it’s hard to describe the sensation — and precision it takes to be competitive at the track. 

“I don’t know that without taking a lap around here in a car that you guys can appreciate how much lower the corners are than the straightaways,” McMurray said. “When you go into Turn 3 and Turn 1 it literally feels like you kind of fall down in a whole, which is horrific feeling even though you have all this banking to hold the car up once you land that feeling of kind of going down in the hole on the entry makes the back feel even lighter.  

“We fight loose in every single weekend. Everybody in this sport you fight loose in because if you don’t then the car doesn’t turn good enough in the middle and that is just magnified here.  And then when you add those little bumps that we talk about it is a challenging track and certainly everyone’s eyeballs are huge in qualifying trim here because it takes a big commitment.”

In 29 starts at Dover, McMurray’s best finish is second (2006). He has two top fives, eight top 10s and an average finish of 17.8. McMurray finished seventh at Dover in June. While it will be a challenge coming from 13 rows back and through 15 playoff contenders if he hopes to score his first win at the Monster Mile, McMurray doesn’t appear concerned. 

“It’s actually a pretty tough track to pass on; for as wide as it gets, it is hard to pass here,” McMurray said. “But I feel like the first run is normally the easiest run. You see a few guys start in the back and be able to drive forward. If we can get our GearWrench Chevy handling well, it shouldn’t be a problem.”