When the sun rose over Daytona International Speedway this morning, breaking through the fog, it revealed a hunter’s orange No. 1 car parked on the grass near pit road, just past the start/finish line.
Jamie McMurray’s Daytona 500 Winning Car Returned
The car had a rear wing and wore a different nose than the 2011 Sprint Cup cars, and it was surrounded by black and white Victory Lane squares and flags. It was easy to understand which car this was: Jamie McMurray’s 2010 Daytona 500-winning car.
After each Daytona 500, the track takes the winning car and keeps it for an entire year before giving it back. The winning cars used to be the centerpiece display for a museum/attraction called the “Daytona 500 Experience,” but that was shuttered because of funding issues. Now the winning car becomes part of a Daytona track tour.
It’s doubtful McMurray or his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team will have much use for the car now anyway. They probably could have used it in the spring race at Talladega last year, or perhaps last summer on the return trip to Daytona. But because of continued advances in making cars lighter and faster, none of the major race teams are using cars from last year’s Daytona 500.
The car likely won’t even be worthy of being a backup by the time McMurray arrives at Talladega (which is the first time he could use it). If the team wanted, it could probably use some of the parts and pieces from the car; more likely, it will stay intact and end up as part of Ganassi or McMurray’s personal collection.
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