Results (with starting position) from the at Daytona International Speedway

1. (5) No. 22, Logano, Ford 2. (11) No. 4 Harvick, Chevrolet SS 3. (3) No. 88 Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet SS 27. (15) No. 1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevrolet SS (McMurray) 34. (29) No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS (Larson)

Daytona 500 Hopes Slip Away for McMurray with Late-Race Incident

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) kicked-off the 2015 season with a sun- drenched day at Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Jamie McMurray looked to add another 2015 Daytona trophy to his case, in follow-up to claiming victory in last month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy ran among the lead pack through most of the 203-lap race until being collected in an accident with less than 50 laps to go.

McMurray rolled off from the 15th starting position and raced among the leaders with a solid handling Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy. Early in the race, on lap 42, McMurray narrowly avoided carnage as he slowed to miss another competitor that made contact with the outside wall. Slight contact with the car in front caused minimal damage to the nose of the No. 1 machine.

The No. 1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy continued to log laps and adjust on the car to be in position for a run to the checkered flag in the “Great American Race”. On lap 162, McMurray lost control of the car after driving through oil when the No. 2 car blew an engine. After making contact with the outside wall and being hit from behind, the No. 1 was forced to make several pit stops for repairs. McMurray managed to stay on the lead lap and pilot the car to a 27th place finish following a green-white-checkered finish that extend the race three laps past the scheduled distance.

With his finish, McMurray is currently in 24th place in the NSCS point standings.

NOTES OF INTEREST · McMurray posted the fastest lap speed eight times, second most among the 43 cars · McMurray ran 66% of the laps in the top-15, ranked 12th in the field of 43 · The race was slowed by caution seven times for 26 laps along with one red-flag

CGRFS QUOTEBOARD

Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevrolet SS – “Just a tough way to end the day. We had a really good Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy today. I was just trying to stay up front and be patient, when the No. 2 car oiled the track down with a blown engine. Just unfortunate that we got into the wall and had to spend the remainder of the race making repairs. We can’t do anything about the stuff that is out of our control.”

Last Lap Incident at Daytona Results in 34th Place Finish for Larson

The season-opening Daytona 500 and Daytona Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) proved to be an up and down affair for the Target team. Larson started the Daytona 500 at the rear of the field after moving to a backup car on the previous day but as the race neared the final few laps he was still in position for a top-15 finish. On the final lap an eight-car incident off Turn 2 knocked him out of the race, resulting in a 34th-place finish.

Following a fifth-place result in the non-points Sprint Unlimited race the week before the Daytona 500, the team went to work early on the Daytona 500 Target Chevy. During his first lap in the first practice session on Wednesday, Larson’s car sustained damage to left front nose as he made contact with the infield grass while swerving to avoid an on-track incident. The team worked rapidly to fix the damage and have the car ready for the Budweiser Duel race, but another incident during that event resulted in right side damage to the car and forced the team to move to the backup car. The Target team again went to work quickly preparing the backup car for Sunday’s Great American Race.

Although Larson qualified in 29th, he began the race towards the tail of the field as a result of switching to a backup car. As the race started, Larson quickly jumped up to around 20th place and would remain there for most of the first half of the race. Larson unfortunately went a lap down just before the halfway point as a result of a pit road penalty, but raced hard to remain in the Lucky Dog position. After finally getting back on the lead lap on Lap 162, he started to move up through the field as the race progressed to the finish. Larson was set up for a solid finish as the leaders came around Turn 2 on the last lap, but was unfortunately turned off the track in an eight-car incident and left unable to drive the car back to the garage. He was uninjured in the incident and credited with a 34th place finish.

NOTES OF INTEREST:

· Larson posted the fastest average speed on restarts · This race marks the most laps completed for Larson at Daytona International Speedway · The caution flag was shown seven times for a total of 26 laps · The race was red-flagged on the penultimate lap following a two-car incident · There were 27 lead changes among 12 drivers · A total of nine teams were forced to use a backup car for the race

TCGRFS QUOTEBOARD

Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS – “It was a pretty eventful race for Team Target. I spent the first third of the race trying to stay out of trouble. During a green-flag pit stop I got distracted trying to find my shifter after it had broken, which caused me to miss my pit box, then I got caught speeding leaving pit road. We were able to overcome all that and get our lap back to be in position for a good finish on the final restart. We were all racing hard for the finish when I got spun off turn two on the last lap. It was a long Speedweeks for us, but all my guys worked really hard today to put us in position for a good finish.”

NSCS teams will run the Folds of Honor Quicktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday, Mar. 1. FOX, Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90 and PRN Radio will have live coverage at 1 p.m.ET.