Daytona Testing Day Three
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Day one blog Click Here
By Greg Engle
Editor, Cup Scene Daily
January 10
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12:15PM- Mike Mclaughlin subbing for Tony Stewart put down the fastest lap in the morning solo runs, with a speed of 184.483. Sterling Marlin was second, Jamie McMurray third followed by Jeff Green and Jimmie Johnson in fifth.
Wednesday Morning Test Speeds
12:00PM-
Ginn Racing Names Championship Crew Chief DeHart as Director of Shop Operations
Ginn Racing announced today that former championship crew chief Gary DeHart has joined the organization as director of shop operations.
DeHart, who spent nearly the past 20 years at Hendrick Motorsports, will oversee shop employees and assist in managing the company's growth during the NASCAR team's expansion, according to Jay Frye, Ginn Racing's CEO and general manager.
"With the growth taking place at Ginn Racing, we're excited to have someone as experienced as Gary to help us through this new phase of our racing organization," said Frye. "Hendrick Motorsports has grown over the years in the same way we're working toward and Gary was a part of that growth. His experience will be vital to making the process go smoothly and we're thrilled that he has chosen to join us."
Ginn Racing has nearly doubled its employees -- from 85 to 160 -- since Bobby Ginn purchased majority ownership in the team last July. The team, which has operated two full-time Cup programs for the past six seasons, will add a third full-time Cup program in 2007, as well as a full-season Busch program and an aggressive driver development program.
As a crew chief at Hendrick motorsports, DeHart teamed with Terry Labonte in 1996 to capture the NASCAR Cup championship, tallying two victories, 21 top fives and four poles. DeHart retired from the crew chief ranks following the 1997 season. He spent the past six years managing shop operations at Hendrick Motorsports and directing the company's safety program.
"There are plenty of exciting things happening at Ginn Racing right now and I'm proud to be a part of them," said DeHart. "I think the world of Rick Hendrick and he feels the same way about Ginn Racing. It's an organization that is on track to becoming one of the top teams in NASCAR and I'm delighted to have this opportunity to assist in the building process."
10:00AM- McMurray Looks To Rebound
Jamie McMurray didn’t exactly have a stellar freshman season at Roush Racing.
After leaving Chip Ganassi and signing with Roush in 2006, McMurray had what can best be described as a miserable season. But McMurray begins 2007 with a renewed optimism after a wholesale slew of changes during the off-season.
“We’ve changed so much,’ McMurray said Wednesday morning at Daytona International Speedway. “We’ve got a new crew chief, new car chief, new engineer, new tire guy, new guys at the shop. All of the cars are gonna be brand new. We pretty much have already changed everything.”
After scoring a victory in only his second Nextel Cup start in 2002, McMurray has watched his fortunes tumble over the last few seasons, the low perhaps came last year when he scored only three top five finishes and seven top ten finishes the entire season.
“The deal with last year, I would tell myself after I’d go home after a race and say, ‘I don’t think it can get any worse,’ and then I’d show up the next week and I’d be like, ‘Wow, I was wrong.’” McMurray said.
McMurray also had five DNF’s last year, all coming in the last ten races of the season.
“The last 10 races, I don’t know how many we finished, but I think we didn’t finish more than we did finish,” McMurray said. “So when you don’t run well and then you can’t even finish it’s so frustrating and you’re so mentally beat up that I think when you get to that point that you just want it to be over.”
As McMurray has rebuilt his team, he’s also had to rebuild his own confidence as well.
“Everyone always joked around about how I always smiled and laughed, but you’re right, at the end of the year I would divert myself to the front of the hauler so I didn’t have to walk behind with everybody,” McMurray said. “I was scared of the questions that were gonna be asked or people would ask the same question about what’s wrong. If I knew what was wrong, I would have went and tried to fix it.”
I don’t deal with that very well and I know that,” he added. “So I’m gonna go back and try to get to where I can think positive again and be happy.”
He took a big step in that direction Tuesday by posting the fastest lap in the morning session of testing at Daytona.
“I tell you, it will make you happy as hell just to run well,” McMurray said. “If you run well, it seems like that goes away, but when you don’t, it certainly drives you crazy.”
7:00AM- In route to the speedway, I expect to arrive and get set up around 10AM. Look for reports and photos soon after. Today's weather, clear and cool... stay tuned!
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