MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Jamie McMurray wrecked out of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway when he lost his left-rear tire, spun and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 on Lap 107.
For several laps McMurray had driven around the half-mile track with a visible tire rub from damaged sheet metal, caused by contact earlier with Jimmie Johnson.
“The smoke got a little bit lighter and I thought we were going to be OK,” McMurray said after being released from the infield care center. “Honestly, I’m in the car and I’m like ‘If we pit, we lose three laps.’ You’re never going to make those up here because of the way the tires, there’s not a tremendous amount of falloff. I don’t think we’ll be able to do the wave arounds and all that. I guess now you wish you had, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had entered the race sixth in points. This is McMurray’s second DNF of the year and his first since the Daytona 500. He had three top 10s in the first five races of the year.
The accident was the second caution of the day following a spin by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 70.