McMurray Confident Heading To Martinsville

Jamie McMurray heads to Martinsville Speedway this week on top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup world and feels pretty good about maintaining that perch. 

McMurray won Sunday at Talladega, claiming the seventh victory of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. All of those wins have come on tracks of 1.5 miles or longer, but that doesn’t temper his confidence headed into the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Powered by Kroger. 

“Plate tracks (superspeedways) are probably our best tracks, but Martinsville is our next best place,” McMurray said after his win Sunday, and the statistics seem to support that claim. In 21 career Sprint Cup starts on Martinsville’s half-mile oval, McMurray has 11 Top-10 finishes, a pole and two outside-pole starts. He is also batting .500 in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Martinsville, winning the Kroger 200 in the fall of 2004; one of only two truck series starts at the historic track.

Combine that Martinsville success with Sunday’s win and McMurray feels pretty good about his chances at Martinsville.

“It was so cool to see the crew’s faces in Victory Lane and know that when you go to Martinsville, you have confidence (and) everybody on the team has confidence,” said McMurray, who finished seventh there in the spring. “It feels great to take this confidence and go to a track where we run really well.” 

Before McMurray takes to the track Sunday, he will make an appearance in Martinsville Speedway’s new Party Plaza, the fun and exciting spot to spend part of race morning. He will be joined there by fellow drivers Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. The drivers will make appearances at different times for emceed question-and-answer sessions. 

Legendary guitarist Gary Hoey will perform in the Party Plaza and there will be a live DJ. A racing simulator will be available for everyone to try their hand at racing. There will also be plenty of fun for children with a bounce house and a rock-climbing wall. Admission to the Party Plaza, which also includes a Pre-Race Track Pass to walk along the frontstretch of Martinsville Speedway, is just $49. Youth 12 and under are admitted for $25. Tickets for the Party Plaza may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Excellent tickets are still available in all areas for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Powered by Kroger starting at $42.