FanHouse JamieMcmurray

Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 5:45 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Twitter: In-race updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 64 degrees, 80% chance of rain
Distance: 400 laps (600 miles)
Pole Winner: Ryan Newman
2008 Winner: Kasey Kahne
First-time NASCAR winners have been commonplace at Lowe's Motor Speedway for quite a few years now. Jeff Gordon got his first there as did Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Casey Mears.

Sunday night, though, the favorites look to be of the veteran variety.

Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:

"We lost the brakes."

Jimmie Johnson, as Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway proved, isn't the racing robot with a switch stuck on "Dominate" we've come to think he is after three-straight Sprint Cup titles. Nope, not even at a track where he's won three of the last four events before Saturday night's race.

In fact, it was an all-around miserable night for the No. 48 after brake problems caused him to spin once, get caught up in another crash and then race the rest of the way with a damaged race car. Unfortunately for the rest of the competition, his 36th-place finish won't be a barometer of his 2009 season.

One of the bigger stories of the weekend's Nationwide Series activities at Nashville Superspeedway, thanks to the fine folks over at Scene Daily, involved a potential move of Rusty Wallace Inc.'s two teams to Sprint Cup in 2010.

According to the story, team owner Rusty Wallace said that he'd like to make the move in 2010, but that a lot of things would have to line up for it to happen -- like equipment, sponsorship and other necessities.

But doesn't it seem a little perplexing that the former Sprint Cup champ would want to move an organization that has one total win in Nationwide Series competition to NASCAR's top level?

Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray has been under the weather since last Wednesday thanks to a nasty bout with the flu.

Throughout the Las Vegas race weekend, he made several trips to the infield care center for drugs and IV's after previous medications didn't quite work and before the race, he wondered aloud if he could stay focused and on top of his game during throughout the day.

Well, on lap 66 of the 285-lap Shelby 427, McMurray got a major wake-up call.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Here's a few rumblings and bumblings from a soggy evening at Daytona:

Are television viewers more important than full races? I think its a very valid question to wonder why NASCAR is so willing to push the snooze button later and later on Sunday afternoons with the start times of its Sprint Cup Series races.

It was just eight years ago that the Daytona 500 started at 12:30pm local time, while Sunday, it started after 3:40pm local time. The reason? Television ratings and commercial advertising rates go up the later in the day thanks to West Coast viewers and the "prime time" effect kicking in on the East Coast.

Kevin Harvick has found the key to winning the biggest races at Daytona International Speedway: lead as few laps as possible. Harvick, who won the 2007 Daytona 500 after leading just four laps, led just one Saturday night en route to winning his first Bud Shootout.

His improbable win was just the tip of the iceberg on a wild, full moon Florida night as 28 of NASCAR's stars knocked the dust of the steering wheel in the season-opening exhibition.

We already heard about Tony Stewart's non-NASCAR racing exploits on Monday, so obviously, it's high time to keep that theme moving along with this tale about Jamie McMurray.

McMurray, the driver of the No. 26 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing, could be found early this week doing some hot laps at the always-famous Daytona International Speedway.

Nope -- he wasn't breaking NASCAR's testing ban to get a head start on the 2009 season -- but rather, McMurray made the trip to DIS for "Daytona Kartweek" for some Sunday practice and racing on Monday and Tuesday.

And according to some DIS release material, the Crown Royal driver made the trip to Daytona the day after Christmas with his dad from North Carolina -- via car.

"My dad and I left 8:30 in the morning after Christmas," McMurray said. "I drove the whole way. This might sound odd but I wouldn't want to drive to Cup races but I missed the fact of stopping at a truck stop and experiencing that. It's different."

Oh, the truck stop experience. Mediocre coffee, questionable restrooms and more knock-off brand gadgets than anyone can handle -- here's to hoping that McMurray got the fill he desired.

Wanna read some more? Just click the link above to the track's release.

Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.

Driver: Jamie McMurray
Team: No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
'08 Final Standing: 16th (-2875)
Best Race: Texas, Phoenix & Homestead (3rd-place)
Worst Race: Bristol (43rd-place)

Season in a box: I don't know if there was a driver who had more of a roller coaster season than Jamie McMurray, but the way the ride ended surely was pleasing for the driver from Joplin, Missouri.

With NASCAR's awards banquet on Friday, Dec. 5 (stop by for the live blog!), here's a look at 10 from '08 -- 10 of the NASCAR season's best moments.

Looking back at the race stats of June's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County, Calif. tells you that Kyle Busch walked away with a race victory after a dominating performance that saw the No. 18 out front for 78 of 112 laps.

What the stats don't show was how Yates Racing's David Gilliland finished second or how Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon -- the longtime road course king -- didn't lead a lap but finished third. They also don't show how both drivers moved up some four spots in the final six laps without actually making a green flag pass.

The reason for that? Mr. Kevin Harvick.

Harvick, running fifth at the time, entered Turn No. 7 at Infineon (a 90-degree right hand turn) just a little too hot while looking under Gilliland for a pass. Harvick's No. 29 spun sideways (video below) to collect third-place Jamie McMurray, who, in turn, collected second-place Tony Stewart.

The result was a synchronized spin that many synchronized swimmers would have been proud of, and one that drastically changed the race's Top-5 finishing order.