McMurray Wins on Last Lap at Atlanta!

HAMPTON, Ga., (October 26, 2002) -- Jamie McMurray is on a hot streak. McMurray, piloting the No. 27 Williams TravelCenters Chevrolet, scored his career first NASCAR Busch Series victory today in the Aaron’s 312 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. McMurray’s Busch Series victory comes on the heels of his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory two weeks ago at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.

"It's incredible -- my life has changed so much in the last few weeks," McMurray said. "I won a Cup race a couple weeks ago and then, to win here -- I am so glad for these guys because they were disappointed they didn't give me my first win, so this is all about them."

After qualifying was rained out, the field was set according to current 2002 NASCAR Busch Series car owner standings, which placed McMurray’s No. 27 Williams TravelCenters machine eighth on the starting grid.

During the early stages of the event, McMurray radioed the crew that his car was “loose in and tight off” the corners. During a caution period on lap 27, McMurray headed for pit road for four fresh tires and fuel as his crew made several adjustments to the car to correct the handling.

McMurray would pit again during a caution in the middle stages of the event and would fight his way back up through the field. By lap 114, McMurray had worked his way into the 10th position. A caution flag on lap 121 would prove to be the pivotal point in the race for McMurray.

McMurray headed for pit road with the leaders and took four tires and fuel. Due to the lengthy caution period, crew chief Jason Ratcliff made the call to bring McMurray back down pit road when the one-to-go signal was displayed to top off the fuel tank in hopes of making it the rest of the way.

Ratcliff’s call proved to be the best move of the race as McMurray steadily marched his way through the field and as the leaders were forced to pit with a handful of laps remaining, McMurray stayed on the track and quickly worked his way to the front. With one lap remaining, McMurray’s spotter radioed to him that the leader had just run out of gas. McMurray, who was feathering the throttle to conserve fuel, coasted to the checkered flag on fumes.

As McMurray was in the middle of conducting a burnout for the fans, his fuel tank ran dry. His crew had to push the No. 27 machine into victory lane.

“I wasn't really worried about fuel because they told me I could make it,” McMurray added. “We didn't have the best car today, for sure, but today just proves the driver doesn't always win the race. Sometimes it takes a lot of luck to win a car race and you have to have everything on your side.”

McMurray’s first Busch Series victory marked his fifth top-five and 13th top-10 finish of the 2002 season. McMurray’s victory also vaulted him into sixth place in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings. McMurray now sits only 48 points behind fifth-place point runner Jack Sprague and only 123 points behind fourth-place Mike McLaughlin with three events remaining on the 2002 Busch Series campaign.