ROCKINGHAM — Twenty years ago, Jamie McMurray secured his fourth consecutive Xfinity Series victory at Rockingham Speedway.
On Wednesday, McMurray returned to the Rock for the Goodyear tire test — in an ARCA car.
McMurray, who is now an analyst for Fox NASCAR, was making laps around the track during a press conference with Xfinity drivers Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones.
Click here to read about the Xfinity test.
“It brings back a lot of memories, obviously, coming here,” McMurray said, adding that the last time he was at the speedway he was testing on Little Rock.
“I was talking to some of the other crew guys in the garage, and it’s weird, you pulled up and you don’t remember things, but then all of a sudden — how to get in, where the tunnel was — it all comes back to you,” he said.
McMurray earned his first checkered flag at Rockingham at the Sam’s Club 200 in November 2002. His luck continued at the Rock winning the Rockingham 200 in February and the Target House 200 in November, both in ‘03. That year he was also named Rookie of the Year in the Cup Series.
His fourth win was in February of ‘04 at the Goody’s Headache Powder 200 — the last year the Rock was on the schedule for the Cup and Xfinity series.
In addition to those wins, McMurray also competed in the Cup Series races, placing: 15th and 35th at the Pop-Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 in November ‘02 and ‘03, respectively; fifth and third at the Subway 400 in February ‘03 and ‘04, respectively.
“It was cool to get back in here and kinda see the track. It looks like it’s in really good shape,” McMurray said.
At the time he was interviewed, McMurray had not yet been on the track.
However, he said he had spoken to several drivers who had been on the track and said it was “significantly faster than what it was” and a lot smoother.
“All those guys said it’s a pretty thrilling lap,” McMurray said.
The biggest challenge at the Rock in previous years, according to McMurray, was the tire fall-off.
“That’s what you raced here, you didn’t really even race the other cars — you just race yourself,” McMurray said. “I would always put Rockingham and Darlington in the same category.”
That challenge, he continued, will be different now due to the repave in late 2022.
“It does appear that the track is fairly wide … the groove might widen out a little bit, which makes for good racing,” he said.
McMurray also said he was glad to see races coming back to older tracks like Rockingham and North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The latter will be hosting its third consecutive NASCAR All-Star race next year, and the Rock will see action from the Craftsman Truck and Xfinity series, as well as the ARCA Menards Series East April 18-19. Tickets for the Rockingham race went on sale Nov. 1 at racetherock.com.
“There’s some incredible races that happened here, so I’m glad that they’re going to come back and give it a shot.”
When asked if he thought NASCAR should stay in Rockingham, McMurray said, “I think you need to see a race first.”
