Jamie McMurray 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=jamie+mcmurray&iid=7811189″ src=”9/e/f/1/Daytona_500_Practice_5dd4.jpg?adImageId=9954716&imageId=7811189″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Jamie McMurray

2009 Stats: Points finish 22nd, Wins 1, Top fives 1, Top tens 5, Average finish 21.4, Average position 21.9, Laps led 33, Driver rating 70.3

In 2010 Jamie McMurray will be opening a new chapter in his driving career. His days with Roush are now over and in 2010 he’ll be reuniting with his old boss Chip Ganassi. McMurray was a bust at Roush racing over his tenure there, but with his previous stint at Ganassi Jamie McMurray found instant success and won in just his second career start. McMurray also had career highs across the board earlier in his career with this team.

Strengths- McMurray is what I call a “skill driver”. He performs his very best when engineering isn’t much of a factor. He performs good on short tracks, road courses, and restrictor plate tracks.

Weaknesses- McMurray is just way to inconsistent. When he previously raced for Chip Ganassi consistency was arguably his greatest strength.

Intermediate Track Grade- B-, McMurray for whatever reason never excelled on the intermediate tracks with Roush. Last year the EGR cars were excellent at these tracks. McMurray’s a capable driver so his grade might actually be underrated slightly.

Flat Track Grade- C, Flat tracks are perhaps the worst tracks for Roush cars. McMurray will be hoping into a EGR car that will be very capable of getting the job done. Once again I think there’s a good chance I have McMurray underrated here.

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- A-, Jamie has always been good at these tracks. He doesn’t always get the finish he deserves but lately McMurray has pulled in the wins at these tracks. In 2009 McMurray won at Talladega and in 2008 he won at Daytona. His restrictor plate wins definitely aren’t flukes.

Short Track Grade- B, McMurray is an excellent pick for Martinsville nearly every race. The amazing thing about this is that Roush really struggles at this track and yet McMurray consistently gets good finishes here. McMurray also isn’t to bad at Bristol. I would say that he’s a borderline pick for Richmond.

Road Course Track Grade- B+, His finishes at road courses weren’t that great in 2009, but make no mistake he’s a good road course driver.

How to use Jamie McMurray from a fantasy racing perspective in 2010?

Use McMurray exactly as I described in this post. He’s a great skill driver who in my opinion will be a good sleeper pick this season.

Click HERE for more Jaime McMurray stats

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