Digger’s Revenge Doesn’t Stop McMurray From Winning at Daytona

Jamie McMurray’s win in Sunday’s Daytona 500 is watered down by a pesky pothole that grabbed a lot of attention. Could this be Digger’s revenge?

So how did he hold off Earnhardt on the final lap?

It’s more like a push he received from the guys behind him. The field behind Jamie was racing so hard that no one really got lined up to give him a good shove.

McMurray got a final push from friend Greg Biffle.

“This was my dream, to win the Daytona 500, that’s what I wanted to do since I was a little kid,” he said. “You don’t know how you’re going to behave when they put a TV camera in front of your face. You can’t control your emotions. I wouldn’t take any of it back, it’s just who I am.” McMurray notes in an AP interview.

McMurray made the rounds of talk shows in New York with his wife, Christy. They planned to fly to San Francisco for more appearances before heading to Sunday’s race in Fontana, Calif.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., second from front, filled Jamie McMurray’s rearview as the checkered flag dropped Sunday at Daytona. He has won Daytona’s July race before. He’s a master at the draft but he appeared out of nowhere at the end of the race, only leading two laps.

Also in the mix at the end were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. Dale Jr. ought to split his second-place paycheck with David Reutimann for the powerful bump draft he received down the middle of the backstretch on the final lap. Earnhardt qualified second but never really appeared to be a contender in the race.

McMurray was almost considered a wash-out after four unmemorable years with Roush Racing. He joined the Roush program as a dead-solid-lock young driver commanding a big salary. When he left, he had to beg team owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates for an opportunity. Now, Ganassi and Sabates look pretty smart for giving McMurray a chance. I wonder why McMurray of .

The win in the Daytona 500 may put McMurray’s team at a disadvantage in the three remaining 2010 restrictor-plate races (two at Talladega and one more in Daytona) as well as the 2011 Daytona 500. The reason: the winning car at the Daytona 500 is rolled out of Victory Lane and into the Daytona 500 Museum for display for the next 12 months. The car, complete with grease marks, tire rubber, sandblasted nose and confetti from Victory Lane, will be seen by fans for the next year. That means that a car good enough to win Daytona is not available to the team for the next four restrictor-plate races. It’s a high price to pay, but nobody seems to mind after winning the race.

What about Digger’s Pothole?

How do you foresee a pothole developing in Turn 2? Daytona International Speedway will be criticized for the problem and the two red flags that forced the fans on hand and millions more at home to sit two-and-a-half hours while repairs were made.

And then the pothole happened.

Thousands upon thousands of miles of practice, qualifying and racing have been run at Daytona in the last month without any problems with the asphalt until the biggest race of the season unfolded. Why it didn’t rear its head until then is unknown. And horribly unfortunate. It was going to happen sooner or later. Daytona hasn’t been paved since 1978. Go figure.