Jamie McMurray

Jamie McMurray started Kart Racing when he was only 8 years old. From 1986 to 1992, Jamie won four US go Kart titles amongst which was a World Karting Championship title as well for 1991. He also had the privilege of being one of the 10 Americans who was chosen to represent the country in the USSR, for the World Karting Championships. Jamie was a junior to Tony Stewart in Karting and the two have been closely associated ever since.

In 1992, a 16 year old Jamie stepped into Late Models racing. In 1994 and 1995, he competed in the Grand American Modifieds while he shifted to the Great American Late Models Class from 1996 to 1998.

Jamie became a part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American series in 1997 and ran several events, winning the one at the I-44 speedway, his home track as well as the track where he was a champion.

In 1999, Jamie was part of the NASCAR Midwest series and also took part in five races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. He was part of the Truck Series in 2000 but also got into a few races at the Nationwide Series. In 2001, he made his full time debut in the Nationwide series and came third in the rankings for the Rookie of the Year. In his three years in the Nationwide series, Jamie won two races, had six top-five finishes and 17 top-ten finishes. In 2002, he managed a sixth place ranking, his best ever in the series. In 2002, he also won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race after a lucky break led him to victory. A collision between the lead drivers, in the dying moments, meant that Jamie was through onto the chequered flag without issues. He was called upon by Chip Ganassi to race in a few events but an injury to Sterling Marlin meant that Jamie got the last six races of the season. His second race was his first win as well.

In 2003, he won the Rookie of the Year award with two third-place finishes amongst his 5 top-five finishes as well as 13 top-ten finishes. He was 13th overall and also took part in 19 races in the Nationwide series. In 2004, he bettered his performance with 9 top-five finishes and 23 top-ten finishes. He also took part in 14 events in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and won three of them to hand owner Rusty Wallace his first win as an owner. He also won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville. His 11th place standing in the Sprint Cup was his career-best standing so far.

In 2005, Jamie faced a lot of late disappointment as he was in the coveted 11th place for the Chase Series with just two races to go. His performances dropped and so did his standings. He was 12th at the end of the disappointing season which saw him earn just 4 top-fives and 10 top-tens. Jamie moved to Roush Fenway Racing in 2006 and struggled. His three top-5 finishes and seven top-tens were the worst statistics he had ever experienced. He was 25th in the standings and his season was summed up at Dover where he led most of the final 90 laps, only to be passed by eventual winner Matt Kenseth with just three laps to go.

He improved in the 2007 season, although marginally. Jamie won two races including a 0.005 second win over Kyle Busch in the Pepsi400 at Daytona. He had three top-fives and 9 top-tens that took him to 17th in the overall standings. In 2008, Jamie will be looking to move up further in the standings as his time with Roush Fenway Racing seems to be improving. Jamie will be itching to head out again and prove his critics wrong.