Texas: Dodge - McMurray interview

JAMIE McMURRA (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge)

COMMENT ON LAST WEEK AT BRISTOL

"I knew better. I've watched a lot of people do that and thought 'that was an idiot. What was he thinking?' When you spend all day racing at that place and somebody takes away from you in the last 100 feet or 200 feet you just want to get 'em back. I knew it wasn't going to do any good, but it's the only thing you can do. You can't get out and fight. Spencer got suspended for that, so I knew that wasn't the right thing to do. You just want to do anything you can to get back at 'em. You don't want somebody to think you're going to let 'em push you around, but it's not even about that. Matt is not that kind of guy. Everybody knows he wouldn't wreck you on purpose. He was just tired up like I was. We went in the NASCAR trailer, and he was just as mad as I was about the whole thing. That place will bring it out of you. I never get mad, but I was mad. That's what Bristol does. I watched it on TV and you could hear the people cheering when you do that. I don't know why, but people love to see that. It's a cool place to race, but it can wear you out.

"It's over now. I talked to Kasey Kahne this week. I knew he was pretty upset, so I went up and apologized to him and told him I'd be very careful around him from here on out. We've never had a problem before. We've raced a lot together and have never touched each other. We kinda had the same situation at Rockingham this year, and I could have got into him there, but I didn't. I wouldn't race him that way. Sometimes it happens. I hate it for him his car got torn up, but I apologized to him and told him I was sorry. I don't need to find Matt because we worked it out at the racetrack.

"Kasey said what you're supposed to say. You're mad, and if his car had got fixed he would have probably got me back before the race was over. That's what you do. That's just part of human nature. You want to retaliate on somebody as soon as you can. As far as the fine goes, they told me they were going to give me the same fine they gave everybody else, and that's fine. I knew I had it coming. You say things at the time because you're fired up, but Kasey isn't that kind of person. I'm not worried about that. It's happened to me before, and it'll happen again. You get mad at people and the team and they had nothing to do with it. I'm sure the 9 team is pretty fired up at me right now, but that's just the way it is. There's a lot of emotions in this sport and everybody wants to do well. When somebody ruins your day for no reason it gets you mad.

"John Darby and Mike Helton said to Matt and I when we were in the trailer that we were the two least likely guys we'd expect to see in here it's you two, especially together. I think Matt and I realize that and we'll go on. Martinsville is coming up and that's just as bad as Bristol, so we'll see what happens."

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF JUNIOR'S SPIN?

"I can't believe a guy can spin out on his own and not get hit at Bristol. That's pretty wild. I guess I just wouldn't brag about it next time."

TALK ABOUT RACING AT TEXAS

"It's so smooth and so fast. We ran well here last year. I think we were running second with 30 or 40 laps to go and we left a lugnut loose and had to go back as the last car on the lead lap. It's hard to pass when everybody has new tires on, but we brought the Homestead tire here and hopefully it'll fall off a little bit. Talking to the guys who tested here it doesn't, but it always changes when the race starts. It's a good place to race. As far as fans go, it's probably one of the top two or three tracks we go to. They pack people in for qualifying and the race. Everything in Texas is big. Everything is, and it's a fun place to come race."

HAVE YOU CHANGED THE SETUP TO ACCOMMODATE THE TIRES?

"We haven't changed hardly anything on the car. Maybe you adapt your driving style a little bit. It's a little bit different to drive it, but as far as far as making the car work for us, we're doing the same thing we did last year."

ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT TOP 10 IN POINTS YET?

"Yeah, we talked about it last night. I feel very confident that we're going to make the 400 points or either the top 10. We've run in the top five and had a shot to win every race this year. Performance-wise, we've run really well. We broke a motor at Atlanta and had some bad pit stops at Darlington and left a lugnut loose and lost a lap because of that. Donnie (crew chief Wingo) is worried because he said it's almost been too easy for us to run in the top five. We've done well, and we look forward to getting in the top 10. As well as we've run, we feel like we've got a shot at the year-end deal."

-dodge motorsports-