Last weekend, McMurray had a solid weekend at Phoenix International Raceway as he qualified third and raced to a 10th place finish.
“Yeah it’s been a really good start to the season,” McMurray commented. “I’m happy with our car today. I think coming to the first mile and a half that is such a critical size track to be able to run well at that I thought our testing went well yesterday and then we were really good in qualifying trim today in practice.
“It’s been a good start to the season and happy with the performance of the car.”
This week marks a test for many teams as they are weighing their package against their competitors with the new rules that NASCAR has implemented. However, McMurray doesn’t feel that the racing will be dramatically different.
“It’s really hard to evaluate it right now because in the testing that we did yesterday and the little bit of practice we had this morning everyone is on good tires,” McMurray added. “If your car doesn’t handle good you just pull in and work on it. You never really get a chance to catch anyone. I was a little shocked that in testing yesterday that really the bottom of the race track was the preferred line. Normally it’s that way here until it rubbers up a little bit and then you see guys starting to move up. Especially in (turns) one and two to get around the bumps, but yesterday we didn’t see that. It seemed like all the guys that were quick could stay right on the bottom and you could do that for 15 or 20 laps in a row, which was somewhat unique.”
McMurray feels that we will have a better idea of what Sunday’s race will be like after tomorrow’s practice when we see what the cars are like on older tires.
Obviously, the big goal for any team – this weekend included – is to win so therefore they can punch their ticket for the Chase. McMurray likes the format and feels that it’s good for the fans.
“From a general fans perspective I think that if you win you should be in the Chase. I like it,” he commented. “It’s going to be interesting when they start knocking people out after three races. Especially if you have somebody that dominated the first part of the season and then they don’t make it through.”
McMurray says what he is more interested in is the idea of everything coming down to the last race.
“It’s different and when we went from running every single week to having a 10 race playoff format no one liked that and I think it turned out to be really good,” he continued. “I think it’s tough to give an opinion until you see how it plays out.”
The idea of the format is to increase the urgency to win, but McMurray says that all depends on where you are in the point standings. If you’re in a spot to qualify without a win, you may not push as hard. However, those outside the window, are going to do whatever it takes. With that said, the driver of the No. 1 McDonald Chevrolet says business will probably pick up the last couple weeks before the race.
