McMurray wins Million Dollar Sprint Challenge

Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Bass Pro Chevrolet SS celebrates his 1 million dollar win

HHP/Garry Eller for Chevrolet

Jamie McMurray made a million-dollar move to win Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his first win in the winner-take-all event.

McMurray beat out Carl Edwards in a door-to-door battle in the opening laps of the final 10-lap segment and then held off Kevin Harvick to win his first career All Star race in his eighth start in the event.

Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Edwards.

McMurray led 31 of the 90 laps, overcame a potentially race-ending handling issue and got a solid pit stop from his team during the final round of pit stops on his way to earning a $1 million dollar payday.

"It was awesome. It's three or four of the hardest laps I've ever driven in my racing career, and it's one of those memories that I hope I never forget,"� said McMurray. "Carl (Edwards) got a little jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel. And I was like heck with it – it's for a million bucks. If we wreck, it's not that big of a deal. It's still cool to come out on top of that.

"My little boy Carter, when he woke up this morning, I asked him what he was going to do today. And he said he was probably going to play in his sandbox. And then he said, "÷What are you going to do today, Dad?' And I said, "÷I'm going to race for a million bucks, Carter!' It's so cool that we were actually able to win."�

It was just a year ago that McMurray won the Sprint Showdown at advance to the All Star race where he finished eighth his previous best finish in the all star event coming at the same track where he picked up his first career Sprint Cup win in October of 2002 in just his second series start.

Saturday night's win was also the first for team owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates, who flew in from Indianapolis 500 qualifying to watch their driver go to Victory Lane.

Since returning to drive for Ganassi in 2010, McMurray has brought home four victories, including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 races in 2010.

"I think Jamie likes this place,"� said Ganassi. "It means something here. There's something a little special about the All-Star Race, too, I think, that nobody is out there points racing. It's hammer down there with 10 to go. I think we saw a special kind of racing tonight, and we're all very lucky to see that."�

Edwards led the race from the front row after winning his second straight all star pole, leading the opening nine laps before Kyle Busch got past him to take over the top spot, eventually going onto win the opening 20-lap segment over Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Edwards.

On the ensuing pit stop, Hamlin would stay out to grab the lead for the second segment followed by Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, who all took two tires.

Just seven laps into the second 20-lap segment, Kyle Busch ran up on the no. 15 of Clint Bowyer on the backstretch, who dropped low to block, sending Busch onto the apron and out of control, sliding into the outside wall where he collected Joey Logano.

Kahne would take over the top spot on lap 35, and would lead the final five laps to win the second segment, but would lose the lead to McMurray, who opted to stay out during the round of pit stops.

McMurray led the first six laps of the third 20-lap segment before Kahne rallied from eighth place to regain the lead on lap 47 as McMurray faded back reporting a bad vibration. Kahne headed the field for the next 14 laps to win the third segment over Harvick and McMurray, who held it together long enough to make a pit stop.

McMurray won the race off pit road with a two-stop stop and led the field for the fourth segment until a three-car pileup involving Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex, Jr. and Greg Biffle brought out the caution flag on lap 62.

Nine laps later, Harvick was able to nose his way past McMurray in turn four to take the lead, holding on to win the fourth segment.

The field was reset for the final pit stops based on finishing average over the first four segments, putting Harvick in front over McMurray and Johnson.

McMurray would again win the race off pit road ahead of Edwards, Harvick and Kenseth to set up a 10-lap shootout for the win.

Starting the final segment, Edwards and McMurray made contact going into the first turn with Edwards laying the block on the back stretch, but McMurray fought back and pulled alongside on the front stretch before going to the high side and getting past Edwards coming out of turn one.

"That's frustrating,"� Edwards said of the final restart. "I just went back and watched the replays. Jamie just did a perfect job on the start. I had him cleared for a minute. If I would have pulled in front of him in turn one, if I would have gone high, I think we would have won that race, but I was just so reluctant to give up the bottom. Jamie just did a perfect job.
"If I had it to do over again, I'd do it differently but that's racing. You've just got to make the best decision you can and move on. It's a really tough one, though."�

Harvick managed to get past Edwards for second with seven laps to go, but by then McMurray was too far gone.

Afterwards, Harvick blamed their lost on a bad pit stop during his final stop on pit road.
"Just a bad pit stop,"� said Harvick. "The guys did a great job putting a fast race car on the track. We recovered from the first one and the second one cost us the race. All in all, they put a car on the race track that was capable of the winning and we just didn't get it done.

"We recovered from the first bad pit stop on pit road and we didn't recover from the second bad pit stop on pit road. But I've just got to thank all my guys – they did a great job and provided a fast car. We just didn't get it done on pit road."�
Sprint Showdown winner Clint Bowyer finished seventh, while Sprint Showdown runner-up A.J. Allmendinger ended his night in the garage after crashing on lap 30, finishing 20th.

Sprint Fan Vote winner Josh Wise scored a 15th-place finish in his first ever All Star start.

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS WINNER
WHAT ABOUT THE RESTART AND THE BATTLE WITH CARL EDWARDS?
"Really, as a kid, that's what you grew up wanting to do is to have a shootout like that and have a possibility to just race for 10 laps. And Carl got a little jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel. And I was like heck with it, it's for a million bucks. If we wreck, it's not that big of a deal. It's still cool to come out on top of that. It's a lot of fun. I have to thank Sprint for putting this up. My little boy, when he woke up, I asked him what he was going to do today. And he said he was probably going to play in his sandbox. And then he said, "÷What are you going to do today, Dad?' And I said, "÷I'm going to race for a million bucks, Carter!' It's so cool that we were actually able to win and Christy (wife) asked him if his dad wins, what would he want. He told her, "÷A train.' So Carter, you're going to get a really cool train in the next few days, I promise you.

I've just got to thank Bass Pro Shops and Johnny Morris. He's been with us a long time. And we've gotten to win some really big races with him. I know you're watching Johnny. This is so cool and I can't thank you enough for your friendship and everything that you've done for our race team. This is an awesome day."�

ON KEITH RODDEN'S CALLS DURING THE RACE, WERE THEY THE WINNING MOVES?
"Absolutely. Keith did an unbelievable job. He was a huge secret in the garage and I'm so glad that I get the opportunity to work with him. We've had good cars all year long. We had some bad luck. But this is one of those races that makes up for a lot of bad times."�

TELL US ABOUT THE RESTART AND WHAT YOU DID TO GET AROUND CARL EDWARDS
"I just drove as hard as I could. I'm really fortunate that Chip (Ganassi) and Keith (Rodden, crew chief) gave me a car that was capable of winning today. Carl got a little bit of a jump on me and I was able to hang on to his quarter-panel. I could have pulled in behind him but I knew whoever got out front, it was going to be hard to pass. So those couple of laps with Carl"¦ he wasn't going to let up and neither was I. We were both sliding up the race track. That is as much fun as a race car driver that you can have. I hope it was fun to watch."

WHO MADE THOSE CALLS FOR TWO-TIRE STOPS?
One hundred percent Keith Rodden. He did an amazing job today. We've had good cars all year long and he's really good at calling the races. As a driver, when they tell you stay out and you know that (taking) tires are better, it's really hard to do want to do that. But I really believe in Keith and he's done a great job for us this year. He's truly what put us in the position to win this race."

WHERE DOES THIS WIN STACK UP IN YOUR CAREER?
"This is an amazing race. I've been fortunate enough to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. But the All-Star race is different. When I woke up this morning, I was like 'I'm just going to have fun. We were talking about the old days of the All-Star race when it was more laid back. It's way more serious now. That's what I told the pit crew – just have fun. It's about having a good time today and doing your best. And fortunately we were the best ones today."

CHIP GANASSI, OWNER CHIP GANASSI RACING WITH FELIX SABATES
"I was excited, I'll tell you. It's great to be here in front of the hometown crowd. The great fans from Charlotte"¦ all the teams are here. Everybody saw who won this race tonight."

KEITH RODDEN, CREW CHIEF, NO. 1 BASS PRO CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
"It's pretty surreal really. Jamie did a great job and the pit crew just really stepped up there at the end. It's a pretty amazing night, really."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 HUNT BROTHER'S PIZZA CHEVROLET SS FINISHED 2ND:
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE?
"Just a bad pit stop. The guys did a great job putting a fast race car on the track. We recovered from the first one and the second one cost us the race. All in all, they put a car on the race track that was capable of the winning and we just didn't get it done.

"We recovered from the first bad pit stop on pit road and we didn't recover from the second bad pit stop on pit road. But I've just got to thank all my guys on the Hunt Brother's Pizza Chevy. They did a great job and provided a fast car. We just didn't get it done on pit road."�

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