Eventful Day for McMurray, No. 37 USPS Brewco Ford Leads to 18th Place Finish in Daytona Busch Series Race

Daytona Beach, FL (July 9, 2007) – Jamie McMurray fought through adversity, including a tough start to the race and a mid-race spin, to earn an 18th place finish in the Brewco Motorsports’ No. 37 United States Postal Service Ford in the Winn Dixie 250 Presented By Pepsico NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway Saturday morning.

McMurray qualified the Brewco Motorsports’ No. 37 Ford in the 16th position Friday afternoon and following a rain delay Friday night, the Busch Series event was rescheduled for 9 am Saturday morning. At the command to start engines, McMurray radioed to Crew Chief Newt Moore that the USPS Ford would not start. The Brewco Motorsports crew rushed to the No. 37 Ford to diagnose the problem. The Brewco machine was started, but because the crew lifted the hood to work on the car, by NASCAR rule McMurray had to start from the back of the pack.

However, the poor starting position did not affect McMurray at all. By lap seven of the race he was back in 16th place and four laps later he was in the top ten. McMurray radioed to Moore that the car was “a bit tight, but a lot faster than these other guys.”

The Brewco crew’s first pit stop came after a competition caution on lap 20 where they changed four tires, added fuel and made air pressure adjustments. The adjustments made the car “really free,” according to McMurray, but he continued his charge toward the front of the field and was in the second position by lap 28.

McMurray guided the No. 37 USPS Ford into the pits again on lap 52 of the 100 lap race for more air pressure adjustments, tires and fuel.  He would stay in the top 10 for the next 23 laps until the Brewco crew pitted for what they thought was the final time in the event on lap 75. Just five laps later however, McMurray and another competitor made contact, sending the USPS Ford spinning down the backstretch. He guided the No. 37 Brewco entry into the pits again for four new tires and to check for any damage, and returned to the track in the 33rd position. McMurray battled through traffic for the remainder of the race and ended the event in 18th place.

“Jamie did a great job staying after it,” said Moore. “He has done a great job for us all year. We had a really fast car, and it showed when Jamie came up through the field like he did at the start of the race. We were hoping for a better finish for him, for our team and for the U.S. Postal Service. Fortunately Jamie is back in the seat next week and he’ll get another chance to score a victory in our Brewco Ford.”

Next for the No. 37 Brewco Ford is the USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois on July 14, 2007. McMurray will be behind the wheel of Brewco’s Yard-Man Ford. Television coverage of the race begins at 2:30 pm EST on ABC.