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Sprint Cup
CUP: McMurray Says Owner Ganassi Committed To Improving
Jamie McMurray says offseason changes at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing should help the organization...
Jamie McMurray addresses reporters during last week's preseason test at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images)
Crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion says he doesn’t “like being a loser,” while realizing that there are 42 of those each week when NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series hits the track.
“You don’t even have to win a race, you just can’t finish 27th in points,” Manion, crew chief for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and driver Jamie McMurray, said. “That’s embarrassing.”
Yet that’s where McMurray wound up at the end of last year, 27th in points with just two top-five finishes and four inside the top 10. It was quite a comedown from 2010 when McMurray scored a career-best three victories – in the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and fall Chase race at Charlotte.
Expectations and reality failed to mesh. Offseason changes were numerous. Experienced veterans in management – Tony Glover and Steve Hmiel – were released and personnel in the trenches moved or replaced.
Former Red Bull executive John Probst was brought in to serve as engineering technical director.
McMurray, who has six career Cup victories, understands and appreciates the effort. What was frustrating, he said “is that we won races with the guys that were there before, [we] won some really big races.”
“But I think the morale in the shop got way down, and everyone ... you start criticizing everybody, and [team owner] Chip [Ganassi] needed to make a change to get everybody pumped back up.”
Probst, McMurray said, “has done a really good job with the way that he's structured everything.
“He's helped to bring in a lot of key people, whether it's the mechanical side of it or the aero side of the cars,” McMurray said. “He's brought in some really good people and opened our eyes to things that maybe we weren't looking at.”
Manion stops short of calling the 2012 effort at EGR, which includes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, a fresh start.
“It’s just new faces, a lot of new faces,” he said. “And I think it’s Chip’s commitment to making this program work.
“Myself, I’m glad to be a part of it. There are people that can be a part of the problem and people that can be part of the solution. I definitely want to be part of the solution.”
He said he wants to prove “that 2010 wasn’t a fluke.”
“Everyone asks, ‘What happened last year?’” Manion said. “Really, we don’t know what happened. You can blame this, point fingers here, point fingers there. But you point one finger and there’s three pointing back at you. I would be lying to you if I said it didn’t take something out of me. It did. But that’s what the winter break is for ... recharge a little bit.”
McMurray, 35, and entering his 10th full season at the Cup level, said he doesn’t anticipate immediate results. While programs sometimes seem to fall apart overnight, building them back up takes time.
The organization’s speedway program still needs work, he said, but the overall program is progressing.
“It seems much more organized and everyone seems to be behind us,” McMurray said.
“One thing that I remember about going over to EGR when I left [Roush Fenway Racing] was walking through the shop and everybody in there being proud of what they had built. I remember walking through there and a guy grabbing a gas pedal and saying, ‘Look, I built this gas pedal and it's eight grams lighter than what we had last year.’ Every single person had that mindset in there of being proud of what they had built.”
That attention to detail, he said, became lost in 2011, in part because the teams were continually making changes to the cars. There were also limits to the adjustability of the cars, something he said that shouldn’t be an issue this year.
“We'll be trying a lot of stuff to start the season off, and obviously you make changes thinking they're going to be better,” McMurray said.
“As of right now that's the way we feel, that Chip has made some good changes, and I feel like we've got some really good teams right now.”
Manion, the self-professed underdog, isn’t looking to steal the spotlight from others. EGR “might not be talked about like some of the powerhouse teams,” he said “and I’m perfectly fine with that.
“You control your own destiny,” he added, “you control your team and everything will fall into place.
“Everyone is working and pulling the rope in the same direction. I think we were, too, last year. We just weren’t going anywhere; our wheels were spinning. It seems like it’s a good group right now; it’s a good mixture.”
SceneDaily.com • 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame: Richie Evans was ‘King’ of the Modifieds
“You don’t even have to win a race, you just can’t finish 27th in points,” Manion, crew chief for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and driver Jamie McMurray, said. “That’s embarrassing.”
Yet that’s where McMurray wound up at the end of last year, 27th in points with just two top-five finishes and four inside the top 10. It was quite a comedown from 2010 when McMurray scored a career-best three victories – in the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and fall Chase race at Charlotte.
Expectations and reality failed to mesh. Offseason changes were numerous. Experienced veterans in management – Tony Glover and Steve Hmiel – were released and personnel in the trenches moved or replaced.
Former Red Bull executive John Probst was brought in to serve as engineering technical director.
McMurray, who has six career Cup victories, understands and appreciates the effort. What was frustrating, he said “is that we won races with the guys that were there before, [we] won some really big races.”
“But I think the morale in the shop got way down, and everyone ... you start criticizing everybody, and [team owner] Chip [Ganassi] needed to make a change to get everybody pumped back up.”
Probst, McMurray said, “has done a really good job with the way that he's structured everything.
“He's helped to bring in a lot of key people, whether it's the mechanical side of it or the aero side of the cars,” McMurray said. “He's brought in some really good people and opened our eyes to things that maybe we weren't looking at.”
Manion stops short of calling the 2012 effort at EGR, which includes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, a fresh start.
“It’s just new faces, a lot of new faces,” he said. “And I think it’s Chip’s commitment to making this program work.
“Myself, I’m glad to be a part of it. There are people that can be a part of the problem and people that can be part of the solution. I definitely want to be part of the solution.”
He said he wants to prove “that 2010 wasn’t a fluke.”
“Everyone asks, ‘What happened last year?’” Manion said. “Really, we don’t know what happened. You can blame this, point fingers here, point fingers there. But you point one finger and there’s three pointing back at you. I would be lying to you if I said it didn’t take something out of me. It did. But that’s what the winter break is for ... recharge a little bit.”
McMurray, 35, and entering his 10th full season at the Cup level, said he doesn’t anticipate immediate results. While programs sometimes seem to fall apart overnight, building them back up takes time.
The organization’s speedway program still needs work, he said, but the overall program is progressing.
“It seems much more organized and everyone seems to be behind us,” McMurray said.
“One thing that I remember about going over to EGR when I left [Roush Fenway Racing] was walking through the shop and everybody in there being proud of what they had built. I remember walking through there and a guy grabbing a gas pedal and saying, ‘Look, I built this gas pedal and it's eight grams lighter than what we had last year.’ Every single person had that mindset in there of being proud of what they had built.”
That attention to detail, he said, became lost in 2011, in part because the teams were continually making changes to the cars. There were also limits to the adjustability of the cars, something he said that shouldn’t be an issue this year.
“We'll be trying a lot of stuff to start the season off, and obviously you make changes thinking they're going to be better,” McMurray said.
“As of right now that's the way we feel, that Chip has made some good changes, and I feel like we've got some really good teams right now.”
Manion, the self-professed underdog, isn’t looking to steal the spotlight from others. EGR “might not be talked about like some of the powerhouse teams,” he said “and I’m perfectly fine with that.
“You control your own destiny,” he added, “you control your team and everything will fall into place.
“Everyone is working and pulling the rope in the same direction. I think we were, too, last year. We just weren’t going anywhere; our wheels were spinning. It seems like it’s a good group right now; it’s a good mixture.”
SceneDaily.com • 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame: Richie Evans was ‘King’ of the Modifieds
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