So far this season, Jamie McMurray has been struggling as he currently sits 19th in points.
McMurray only has three top 10s this season with a best finish of seventh at Bristol back in March. Last weekend at Kentucky, McMurray qualified in the 17th position and would come home with a 15th-place finish.
Last year at Daytona, McMurray had a strong car, though would come home with a 22nd second place finish after being involved in two wrecks. Though he has had success at Daytona in the past as he won the Coke Zero 400 in 2007 and won the 2010 Daytona 500.
The 2010 Daytona 500 is known as one of McMurray’s most emotional victories as it marked his first victory with Ganassi since reuniting.
McMurray began his career with Ganassi in 2002, though left to drive for Jack Roush at the end of the 2005 season, looking for big results. Though in return, the point finishes weren’t there: He finished 25th 17th, 16th and 22nd over the next four years with a total of 11 top fives and 42 top 10s. He did manage to win two races (2007 Coke Zero 400 and 2009 Amp Energy 500), but for the most part, the expected success wasn’t there.
In 2010 when it came time for Roush to collapse to four teams, McMurray was left without a ride as Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards had all experienced success and David Ragan looked like to have the most potential. At the end of the 2009 season, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing had a spot open when Martin Truex Jr. moved over to Michael Waltrip Racing. Chip Ganassi pinned McMurray to drive their car.
They opened up their new chapter together in the best way possible as on the second-attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, McMurray used a huge push from Biffle to pass Kevin Harvick for the lead.
With McMurray needing something to give this season a boost, certainly Daytona is a place that he could do that again as he has earned three top fives and four top 10s in 19 starts at Daytona. However, one of the keys will be avoiding trouble as he has been caught up in his fair share of wrecks, resulting in an average finishing position of 24.7.
