NASCAR’s Jamie McMurray – From Boy To Superstar

James Christopher McMurray was born on June 3rd in 1976 in Joplin, Missouri. He began racing around the tracks in Joplin by the time he was eight years old. He won the World Go-Karting Championship in 1991 which set the trail for him to go on for bigger winnings. He decided in 1992 to go into NASCAR late models racing and began competing in the NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series from 1998 till 1999.

He took part in 4 starts of the Craftsman Truck Series and went on to compete in 15 truck races in 2000. He managed to win two Bud Pole Awards with one top-five and three top-ten finishes. He debuted into the NASCAR Busch Series in 2001 on a full time basis and in 2002 he brought back two races with a sixth place standing in points. McMurray got his lucky break in 2003 when filled in for Sterling Marlin during the NEXTEL Cup Race at Kansas Speedway. It proved a positive course of action for him and his team as he set NASCAR history to be the fastest first time winner when he competed in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He also became the last driver to win a NNCS. In the same year, he won the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year title with 5 top-five wins and the 13th position overall.

In 2004, he added an impressive 23 top-10 wins, 11th standing in points and a big fat $1 million bonus. That year he won the Craftsman Truck Series races as well and again made NASCAR history as being one of the few drivers who have won the Craftsman Truck, Busch and NEXTEL Cup.

Jamie McMurray made headlines in 2005 when he signed a multi-million dollar deal with Roush Fenway Racing. He also managed to finish 2nd that season at Dover. His next best finish came at Watkins Glen where he came third. That season was finished with a three top-five win and seven top-tens. Some say the reason why he did not do as well that season as he did in the rest was because he was struggling a bit throughout the new program.

Jamie McMurray won his third career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup in 2007 during the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 and he also won the Pepsi 400 by a mere 0.005 second. He also won the third pole with a record of 77.521 seconds lap at the Infineon Raceway. He secured top-five finishes at Daytona, Texas Motor Speedway and Talladega Speedway. He finished at 17th place that season.

Jamie who is also a pop icon has appeared in MTV Cribs, The West Wing and the comedy with Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. That is not all that is impressive about McMurray’s ever growing resume. He is also one of the known faces in the Crown Royal’s social responsibility program. The newly minted “Safe Rides Home” which was launched in 2003 has seen participation from McMurray. The program was designed to ensure rides home for those who have consumed liquor at the race markets across the land. He is also actively involved in the Jamie McMurray Foundation that was established to help spread awareness about autism and to also help out the research programs. The foundation has done many activities to raise funds for the charities involved like an online charity auction and special paint scheme.