NASCAR
Jamie McMurray to Make Final Start in Daytona 500, Move to Fox Sports as NASCAR Analyst
Yet another veteran NASCAR star will be joining the world of racing media in 2019. After making his final start at the season-opening Daytona 500, Jamie McMurray will join Fox Sports as a NASCAR analyst. McMurray is a previous Daytona 500 champion, winning The Great American Race back in 2010. His retirement will come after 18 seasons of Cup Series competition.
2019 Racing Schedule For McMurray
Announced this week, Jamie McMurray will pilot a third Chip Ganassi Racing car for 2 races at Daytona in February. He will drive the number 40 Chevrolet Camaro, with sponsorship from Advent Health. This company was previously known as Florida Hospital. McMurray will also run in The Clash, a preseason race the week prior to the 500. Due to his status as a past Daytona 500 winner, McMurray qualifies for this event.
Career Highlights for McMurray
With wins in all 3 of NASCAR’s national series, Jamie McMurray has been racing since 1999. In just his 2nd ever Cup Series start in 2002, McMurray won at Charlotte while subbing for Sterling Marlin. That win led to a career at Chip Ganassi Racing, where Jamie has 5 of his 7 career wins. 2 of these wins were crown jewel events, both coming in 2010, the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. For 3 consecutive seasons from 2015-2017, McMurray made the Playoffs. His most recent points-paying win was in October, 2013 at Talladega. He would also win the All-Star Race that next May.
For 2018, McMurray missed out on the Playoffs, finishing the season ranked 20th in points. His best result of 2018 was a runner-up to Ryan Blaney at the Charlotte Roval in September. At the Homestead season finale, McMurray would finish 18th. McMurray’s ride in the CGR 1 car has already been filled for 2019 by Kurt Busch, as announced last week.
McMurray’s Plans Post-Daytona
McMurray will start his 583rd and final NASCAR Cup Series race on February 17th in the Daytona 500. After that, Jamie will join the broadcast team at NASCAR On Fox. The Joplin, Missouri native will be a racing analyst on Fox Sports 1’s NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR Race Day. McMurray has appeared on Fox Sports NASCAR programming in the past as a guest driver analyst. This includes a few times in the booth for Xfinity Series races this past year. He cited this past experience as a reason for wanting to move to the television side of racing.
On this new opportunity, Jamie McMurray said the following in a press release. “It’s a whole new world, but that’s what I am most excited about-the new challenge and discomfort that comes with doing something completely out of my element.”
For the third-straight year, the Daytona 500 will mark a driver’s final career start in the NASCAR Cup Series. The farewell for Jamie McMurray is similar to sendoffs for both Michael Waltrip in 2017 and Danica Patrick last year.
While his presence in NASCAR will remain, Jamie McMurray is the latest of several drivers to retire in recent years. NASCAR will not be the same without McMurray, who was always a great superspeedway and short track racer. The conclusion of McMurray’s racing career is now less than 70 days from now. The 2019 racing season and the Daytona 500 is quickly approaching, and will be here before we know it.
