Jamie McMurray’s One Of A Kind 2010 Season

There are not many individual seasons a driver has had that are looked back on with the kind of awe and amazement that Jamie McMurray and his 2010 season are looked at with. After all, it’s the only season with the massive highs and lows of winning at Daytona and Indianapolis all while having the lows of not finishing top ten in points.

No One Had A 2010 Season As Historic

All things that made Jamie McMurray’s 2010 one of the most memorable by any one driver. Before the 2010 season, McMurray was going from Roush to his old stomping ground at CGR, with his time at Roush being considered a failure.

He left CGR in 2005 because the team was in a sharp decline and went to Roush. The best team in NASCAR at the time, winning back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004. But to this day those are the only titles Roush has ever won.

There are many reasons for that, and nobody smart would blame McMurray alone. But them opening a fifth car to put McMurray in was a factor. As a result, Roush couldn’t give him the same resources as his teammates. Making his form go on a sharp decline.

In his four seasons with Ford’s best team, he earned only two plate-track wins and never finished top 15 in the final points. From the hype he earned from winning his second-ever race in the Cup Series, many were calling him the best as he went into his eighth Cup Series season. But nobody was saying that after 2010.

Jamie McMurray’s Daytona 500 Triumph

Jamie McMurray’s season started off as great as any season could have, with a victory in the biggest race in America. With two laps to go on the final restart. McMurray restarted second, and he had his ex-teammate Greg Biffle pushing him.

While the man in the lead, Kevin Harvick, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner, had another Roush driver pushing him, Carl Edwards. Until the backstretch, it was a dead heat, but halfway through the long stretch between turns two and three, Carl Edwards decided to go through the middle and go for the win now, while Biffle decided to push McMurray as his life depended on it.

So the number one of Jamie McMurray had pulled ahead of the field as he led the field to the white flag. One more time around to crown himself as a Daytona 500 winner. Biffle passed him heading into turn one, giving him the lead. But his side drafting kept him alongside and kept him in the running for the win.

Bowyer’s Push To The Finish Line

That’s when Bowyer, who made his way up to third, decided he didn’t want to push Biffle anymore and decided to push Jamie McMurray instead. Bowyer thought he was going for the win, but then Dale Jr., out of nowhere, decided to split the middle, almost wrecking himself while he killed Bowyer’s momentum, all to get second.

After that, nobody had anything for him, and in the blink of an eye, baby Jamie went from lucky to still have a ride to a Daytona 500 winner. He was so overcome with shock that he fell to his knees, kissed the logo in the infield, and, in victory lane, buried his face in his towel as he cried.

It was one of the greatest moments of his life, and I’m sure it felt like time stopped in that moment for McMurray. But the show must go on, meaning his 2010 season continued as it always would’ve.

McMurray’s Inconsistency And Eventual Indy Triumph

In the next seven races after his Daytona 500 triumph, McMurray only had one top ten. An eighth place at Bristol. It looked like business as usual until Talladega, when he had another chance to win at Talladega.

Ironically, the man leading the final restart in the Daytona 500 was second behind McMurray, pushing him ahead of the pack to take him on one-on-one: future champion Kevin Harvick. Looking to get back the win he stole from him.

And coming to the start/finish line, Harvick bumped him out of the way, a move he did in practice heading into this weekend. That’s exactly what he did, beating McMurray to the line in one of the closest finishes in the whole history of the series.

After the Talladega heartbreaker, second place would be something Jamie McMurray would get used to. Finishing second twice in the next four races. But these runner-ups would’ve been totally unnotable if it weren’t for the races themselves being the Coke 600 and the Southern 500, two of the most historic and biggest races in NASCAR.

Top-Two and Winning Streak

He’s already finished in the top 2 in two of the biggest races this season and won one of them. Though in the summer stretch there weren’t any major events for a while, and this seemingly zapped away his entire form. He would not earn a single top ten finish in the next five races.

You think that streak would’ve been snapped at the summer Daytona race. One of the biggest races of the summer and of the whole year at a track where he was the defending winner. But he actually got by far his worst finish during this stretch. Being involved in a late crash with the likes of Ragan and MTJ, finished 39th.

Brickyard 400 Success

Daytona giveth and Daytona taketh away; that’s always been the rule. It was actually the very next race at Chicagoland Speedway, where he earned the pole and finished in fifth place. Making it one of the few regular races, he got a great result in 2010. Then came the biggest race of the summer: the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, the most historic track in all of racing.

Despite qualifying fourth, he didn’t lead any laps till late in the running. Leading five laps until Kevin Harvick took back the lead on lap 145. But with eleven laps to go, McMurray got back the lead and didn’t let go, winning his second crown jewel race and making the score 2-1 on Harvick for the year.

Jamie McMurray’s Season Finish And Last Victory At Charlotte

It looked like McMurray was this time going to turn his second win of the season into momentum to climb up the standings. As in the next seven races, he would get three top tens and two different top tens.

One of which was, of course, a third place at the Bristol night race, another major and historic race in NASCAR. But as spring turned to fall, McMurray once again missed the chase despite all his wins. But his inconsistency was too great to be a top 12 driver at the end of the regular season.

And his inconsistency would come back, not getting a single top ten in the next three races. But then would come his last hurrah at the second Charlotte race. While the 600 is the much bigger event, being the longest race of the year, and on the Memorial Day weekend.

Why Charlotte Was Major

But every race at Charlotte is major, especially for the drivers and teams, because NASCAR is based in Charlotte; that’s most drivers’ and teams’ backyard. Plus, being in the middle of the Chase. And it was there even after starting in the middle of the field in 27th. He passed Kyle Busch for the lead on the final restart and took his third and final win of the season.

Beating all the Chasers on that night. But after he and his team drove away from victory lane, they began preparing for the next week. Nobody knew it would be his last top five of the season. McMurray only had a tenth at Phoenix for his last top ten of 2010. Showing how important it was back then to perform at these major races. Thanks a bunch for reading!