Talladega win nice way for McMurray to depart RFR

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- When you're in the process of looking for a new job, it's never a bad idea to keep your resume updated. Jamie McMurray can now add "Winner, 2009 Amp Energy 500" to his.

But all that aside, how much winning Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway will help him land another ride is a matter of conjecture. Any Cup owner out there with an open seat already knew what to expect from McMurray's talents. The issue isn't driving ability, it's dollars and cents.

"There aren't a lot of rides available right now," McMurray said. "Everybody knows what rides there are out there and, certainly, if a sponsor were to call me, that would make it a lot easier.

"With the amount of teams that are shutting down there's not a lot of options out there, so I think everyone knows the cars that are available right now. For me, I just hope that we can get it signed and then announce it whenever they want to so that will make it a little bit easier to sleep at night."

McMurray is in this position because of NASCAR's mandate that no team field more than four Cup cars starting next season. As the odd-man out at Roush Fenway Racing, his name has been mentioned in connection with the No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet being vacated by Martin Truex Jr. Other than that, the choices become narrowed down to teams with limited resources and revenues.

Still, McMurray is appreciative of Jack Roush's guidance, even if his way of encouragement wasn't too kind at the beginning.

"I said this kind of jokingly on TV, but my first year or so Jack was a little bit mean to me would be the easy way to put that," McMurray said. "[As far as] his motivating skills, he just wasn't pushing the right button.

"He's told me numerous times that everyone is motivated differently and Jack has become a really good friend of mine in the past year and he's learned to push the right button, I guess, when he comes up to my car before the race and what to say to me." (Continued)