McMurray teammate Kyle Larson won the first race of his Cup career, locking him into the 16-driver championship field, at Michigan. He’s the thirteenth winner of the year, leaving only three slots in the field for non-winning drivers to qualify on points.
McMurray is now the third-place non-winner, fifteen points ahead of the cutoff with two races left before the field is set.
Chris Buescher remains in contention although he is thirtieth in points because he has a victory. But engine problems left him far back at the finish and he is only seven points ahead of 31st in the standings.
McMurray told us at Indianapolis that making the chase is a goal for the team, the sponsors, and especially for the driver.
audio: jamiechase
McMurray and Larson drive for Chip Ganassi. Larson’s victory ended a 99-race winless streak for Ganassi in NASCAR’s top touring series.
Columbia driver Carl Edwards finished seventh after starting ninth, his twentieth top-ten start in the twenty-four points races this year.
NASCAR races at Darlington next week.
(photo credit: NASCAR)
(INDYCAR)—Nobody has ever led an IndyCar race longer than James Hinchcliffe did at Texas Motor Speedway. But Graham Rahal, who had not led the race until he got the inside lane on the last two turns, beat Hinchcliffe to the line by .008 of a second. Hinchcliffe had led the race for 76 days. The race that started in June and was stopped by rain, resumed on lap 73 and ended 175 laps later. Tony Kanaan and points leader Simon Pagenaud finished close behind and at one point, four laps from the finish, all four cars were running side by side.
Pagenaud’s finish four positions ahead of Will Power boosted his points lead over Power to 28 points with only two races left on the schedule.
(FORMULA1)—Nico Rosberg got back atop the victor’s p0dium with his win at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps and was surprised to see his teammate and main championship rival third. Rosberg finished more than fourteen seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who finished more than thirteen seconds ahead of points leader Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had been 21st on the last restart because of a series of penalties.
Hamilton and Rosberg both have six wins this year. Rosberg’s win trims Hamilton’s points lead to just nine points. Only one other driver, Max Verstappen, has a Formula 1 win this year.