McMurray: Best of the Rest!
 

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DARLINGTON, S.C. -- As often as you hear it, you'd swear the record was skipping:

If only Jamie McMurray had made the Chase.

Those words ran true yet again following the Southern 500, as McMurray finished in the top 10 for the seventh time in the nine Chase races to date.

In doing so, McMurray clinched 11th-place in the final standings.

That's a significant accomplishment in and of itself, guarantees McMurray a cool million. But if he'd just made the Chase...

"I think we clinched 11th place today, and that's cool, but hopefully we'll be competing for first place this time next season," McMurray said.

Had he made it, he'd be competing for first this season. McMurray has been every bit as consistent as Jeff Gordon, who sits 21 points behind points leader Kurt Busch heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

That methodical march continued at Darlington, where McMurray led 15 laps en route to fourth-place finish that equals his best effort ever at the abrasive speedway.

"We just took a chance," McMurray said of the decision not to pit with the leaders with 18 laps remaining. "It's tough to pass here, and if four or five of those guys behind us had stayed out it would have taken Jimmie (Johnson) and some of those other guys some time to get around them.

"We would have been far enough ahead. I don't know if they could have caught us or not. We had a fourth-place car tonight and we finished fourth."

Though McMurray made him work for the lead, Johnson eventually passed him for the lead with eight laps remaining and stormed to his fourth victory in the past five races.

"I didn't know what would happen staying out with the tires," McMurray said. "At times our car was the fastest and other times it wasn't. I was just hoping this time it was going to be fast."

It was, but at Darlington new tires win 10 times out of 10.

"It's kind of sad to run the last Southern 500. It would have been cool to win it. I love this racetrack," McMurray said. "It's a race you've read about for years. It's certainly going to be missed."

NASCAR.com

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