ESPN Sprint Cup

ESPN.com preseason rank: No. 15

2009 Outlook

If McMurray starts this season the same way as he finished 2008, his days as merely the fifth wheel at Roush Fenway Racing are over.

No driver wants to finish fifth on a five-man team, McMurray's spot the last two years. But there's evidence that situation can change. All he needs to do this year is pick up where he left off three months ago in the No. 26 Ford.

McMurray posted top-10s in the last four Sprint Cup races, including a third-place showing in each of the last three events. Only championship runner-up Carl Edwards was better among the Roush Fenway five.

"We ended our season on such a high note," McMurray said. "It was just incredible. If you look at history, the guys that end the year strong always seem to come out of the box strong in the first five or six races."

McMurray believes he has a better chance of doing that this year because of the ban on testing. What you had at the end of 2008 probably is what you'll start with in 2009.

But some things have changed for McMurray, starting with his crew chief. Larry Carter led McMurray to his late-season surge, but he will work with Paul Menard this season at Yates Racing.

McMurray welcomes back an old friend -- Donnie Wingo, who left Chip Ganassi's team to work with McMurray again. McMurray's best years in Cup came when Wingo was his crew chief at Ganassi.

"I think Donnie is one of the best crew chiefs in the sport," McMurray said. "We had a lot of success at Ganassi. He calls races really well, and if you look, any driver he's had was better with him than they were with anyone else."

Wingo's first assignment on the No. 26 team is to keep the momentum from the end of 2008. In other words, don't fix what isn't broken.

"Jamie and I had some good runs together at Ganassi," Wingo said. "I've seen how well Jamie has performed, and I hope we can build on that success.

"The whole goal for our team this year is to win races. But I'm the new guy here and I'm still learning the system."

In three years with Wingo, McMurray finished 13th, 11th and 12th in the standings. They always were on the edge of reaching the top tier but never had the equipment and resources to get there.

Now they do at RFR, but a lot has changed since McMurray and Wingo were last together in 2005, starting with the new car.

"The cars we run now are so different from a few years ago," Wingo said. "But Jamie still knows what he likes and dislikes in his cars, so I don't feel that our communication will be a challenge. Jamie has been so close to making the Chase in the past. That's a must for us this year."

2008 Review

A horrible first half of the season, but a strong second half when McMurray moved up eight spots in the standings to finish 16th overall. McMurray finished in the top seven in five of the last six events.

Has a shot at the title if: He continues to run the way he did at the end of last season and things click with new crew chief Donnie Wingo.

Won't win the title because: Still the No. 5 guy on a five-man team at Roush Fenway Racing. He's never finished in the top 10 in the Cup standings.

-- Terry Blount