Jamie McMurray

Jamie McMurray is a professional driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. On February 14, 2010, he won the 2010 Daytona 500.

Jamie McMurray was born and raised in Joplin, Missouri. He began his racing career as a kid, competing in every form of car racing imaginable. In 1999, he made his professional debut at the age of 23 in the NASCAR Truck Series, and made four starts, including his first ever race at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 in Odessa, Missouri.

The next year, he completed a full schedule of 15 races on the circuit, posting one top five and four top ten finishes.

He would eventually move to racing for Ganassi Racing in 2002. He was then used as a substitute driver for Sterling Marlin who was injured. In just his second ever race at the NASCAR Sprint Cup level, McMurray won the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. In doing so, he became the first driver ever to win his first Sprint Cup race in just his second start.

He won rookie of the year in 2003, and continued to race for Ganassi until leaving in 2006 to join Roush Fenway Racing. By the end of the 2009 season, he had three victories and 80 top ten finishes in his Sprint Cup career. This was added to his total of seven wins on the Nationwide Series, and one victory on the Truck Series.

At the end of 2009, NASCAR rules changed limiting the number of drivers a team could have from five to four. Thus, Roush Fenway had to let McMurray go, and it looked like he would have trouble finding a ride for the 2010 season. But it was announced that he would return to Ganassi Racing, and he qualified by finishing sixth in the first of the Gatorade Duels.

McMurray found himself ahead at the Daytona 500 with just two extended laps to go, and held off a ferocious charge by Dale Eanrhardt Jr. to win the 2010 Daytona 500. By leading just the final two laps, he set the mark for the fwest laps led by a Daytona 500 champion in history.