Jamie McMurray and crew chief Kevin Manion nearly put team co-owner Chip Ganassi into the record books at Charlotte Motor Speedway, falling just .737 seconds short of an historic double win in the Memorial Day Weekend’s two premier racing events – the Coca-Cola 600 and Indianapolis 500.
Following the Sprint Cup contest, Manion was named the NASCAR® MOOG® “Problem Solver of the Race” for the virtually flawless pit strategy that helped propel McMurray’s No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet from 27th place at the start to a runner-up finish on Charlotte’s 1.5-mile quad-oval.
Sponsored by Federal-Mogul Corporation, manufacturer of MOOG steering and suspension components, the MOOG Problem Solver Award is presented following each Sprint Cup event to the crew chief whose car posts the largest increase in average lap speed from the first half to the second half of the race while finishing on the lead lap. McMurray posted a race-high .514-second-per-lap improvement after starting the day in what he called an “eighth- or 10th-place car.”
With the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew buzzing over the news that the Target Chip Ganassi car piloted by Dario Franchitti had won at Indy, McMurray and Manion maintained their focus on picking up track position throughout Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. Manion quickly identified the right setup for the Chevrolet’s MOOG-equipped chassis, enabling McMurray to crack the top 10 within the first 30 laps. Then it was simply a matter of hoping for long green-flag runs, where the No. 1 car’s combination of exceptional power and precise steering and handling response gave it a decided advantage over most of the field.
“Kevin did a really good job,” McMurray says. “As the race went on we just kept getting faster and faster. We had the best car, I thought, at the end.”
“Kevin and Jamie came up with a chassis setup that simply overpowered nearly everyone else,” adds Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director Tim Nelson. “If they had a few more laps after the late caution, chances are they would have pulled off one of the most impressive wins of the year.”
For more information, visit www.moogproblemsolver.com.
