So why wasn't Jamie McMurray's dad with him in Victory Lane?

Jamie McMurray struggled to speak in Victory Lane as he was overcome by emotion with winning his first Daytona 500. Even an hour or so later, he struggled to speak about the emotions with winning and about his father.

 

Only thing was, McMurray's father, Jim, left the track early on Sunday and wasn't there to see his son win in person. To understand this, father and son typically have lunch two or three days a week, play golf and Jamie considers his dad his best friend. His dad was his motorcoach driver the first four years in Cup. Yet, father and son didn't get together until about 6:30 a.m. Monday at the track.

 

When they did Jim McMurray said he gave his son "a hug and told him I loved him.''

 

That was just part of a long, strange adventure for the McMurrays. Jim McMurray said that he always has his cell phone with him but when he went to the track Sunday, he left it by accident at the hotel. Typically, he's easy to reach as he responds quickly to text messages and picks up phone calls. No response from him raised some red flags for friends.

 

Also, Jim McMurray rode his motorcycle to the track to get through traffic easier. Well, during the second delay to repair the pothole between turns 1 and 2, the elder McMurray could see that the race was going to finish at night. He didn't want to be driving his motorcycle on the Interstate and at night on the 30-minute trip to his hotel after the race, so he left during the second delay and got to a sports bar in time for the race to resume.

 

To the left of Jim McMurray were some McMurray fans. To his right was a woman who was not.

 

"I guess they weren't Jamie fans because on the restarts she kept going, "Come on Kevin! Come on Kevin!'' Jim McMurray said. "I started yelling, "Come on Jamie.'' The funny part was when it was all over she said, "Can I have my picture taken with you? And I was real polite and I told her no.''

 

The story continues. Remember the cell phone. Because Jim McMurray had left it in his hotel room, he had been out of touch all day. When friends and such didn't see him in Victory Lane, it created concern that something had happened to him. Jim McMurray got his phone and quickly corrected that.

 

Just made for an even more eventful day for those two.

 

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HOLE IN THE TRACK

 

# NASCAR Spokesperson Ramsey Poston on Monday about the pothole issue at Daytona:

 

Q: Are you ready to tell the track now is the time to repave it since it hasn't been repaved since '78?

 

POSTON: "We don't know whether it's time to repave. Obviously, this is something they're going to spend a lot of time with the track on and make an assesment to figure out if now is the time to repave the track or as Robin (Braig, president of Daytona International Speedway) said last night do you need to focus in on that spot or a couple of spots. This comes down to what is best for the safety of the drivers, what is best for racing and that, with the help of the track's enginers, is the decision we need to come to.''

 

Q: Why, with all the engineering experts, did it come down to using Bondo to patch the hole?

 

POSTON: "Bondo is very effective. It was effective last night for the laps we needed to get in. We've used some of these compounds I think in Montreal when we had a track problem in Montreal two years ago. Same thing, went out and I think that's what was used and it was very successful.''

 

Q: Was this preventable?

 

POSTON: "I don't know how many miles we've had at this track in the last 10 days, but we've had a lot. And the night before we had two major races and the morning of the Daytona 500 the track was walked as it was by track  officials to inspect the track. There were no signs there and there was no indiciation any of the race prior to the Daytona 500 that there were any issues with the track. Obviously, it was very unfortunate. There were no warning signs.''

 

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# Power of Danica continues. ESPN2 reports that its overnight ratings for Saturday's Nationwide race (with Danica in it) was a 2.6. Last year's Nationwide race drew a 1.9 rating for the network. That was the previous overnight high. ESPN2 reports that it's hightest rating point of a 3.0 came in the last quarter hour of the program -- after Danica had been eliminated by a crash.

 

# Elliott Sadler announced via his Twitter account that his wife gave birth to their son today. It's a boy and his name is Wyatt. ... Carl Edwards' wife is due to give birth to their first child sometime this week.

 

# Richard Petty gave an update Sunday on his wife Lynda, who has been diagnosed with CNS (Central Nervous System) Lymphoma.

 

“It’s a very rare form of cancer, it’s very aggressive but it’s very treatable,’’ Richard Petty said. “We feel like we’ve got the best people in the world looking after the deal.’’

 

Petty said his wife has gone through a couple of treatments. “Right now everything is going good,’’ he said. “They feel like they can completely wipe the cancer out. Naturally, it’s going to take a little while to do that.’’

 

Petty thanked fans for cards and other notes. Asked what more fans can do for the family. “Just keep us in your prayers,’’ Petty said.

 

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SCENES FROM THE TRACK

 

Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of NASCAR updates and even photos.

 

Here's a few pics I shot and posted from Sunday.

 

Sarah Palin was at the track.

 

Here's a shot of Tim McGraw before he did his pre-race show

 

Here's a picture from the press box looking down at the crowd during McGraw's concert

 

 

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