Talladega win nice way for McMurray to depart RFR (cont'd)

Despite the win, McMurray is still mired in 22nd place in the point standings, and understands that the decision to release him from the team at the season is at least partially driven by performance. Still, McMurray's opportunity to celebrate in Victory Lane with his current team was a bit bittersweet.

"I'll miss not getting to drive one of these cars," McMurray said. "Jack's team can just put incredible equipment on the track and this year hasn't been as good as what it's been in the past, whether it's been the engine shop, or the engineering department or the chassis shop, he has an incredible race team.

“

It's been a long time since I've won. I just can't believe it's here again.

”

-- JAMIE MCMURRAY

"My years here have been good. The performance certainly hasn't been what I think either one of us expected coming and almost making the Chase my first few years in Cup. Coming over here, I thought that it would be kind of a sure bet and it just hasn't been as good as what it needed to be."

After an early-race crash in April saddled McMurray with a 42nd-place finish, he and crew chief Donnie Wingo switched strategies.

"We rode around in the back with [Jimmie Johnson] and [Tony Stewart] and some of those other guys until just a little bit after Lap 100," McMurray said. "Then when I initially tried to move up through the field, they were three-wide, 10 rows deep, and it seemed like a row would advance and then the next lap that row would move to the back and nobody was able to make any ground.

"I even made the comment to the spotter and Donnie. I said, 'It's just gonna be luck of whoever can kind of get in the right row and make the moves.' Fortunately for me, I shot around a couple of rows and our car was really fast and I was able to get to the front."

It also helped that teammate Matt Kenseth, driving one of the cars with the next generation Ford engine, was there to act as a drafting partner.

"Matt is my teammate, but he's also a really good friend of mine," McMurray said. "I had a lot of faith that he would not hang me out until at least one or two [laps] to go, and he helped out a lot when they were two or three wide, to get behind me. He had numerous times that he could have shot me, whether on the inside or the outside, and he elected to stay with me and it made it a lot easier."

McMurray shot into the lead on Lap 181, then held on for two restarts to score his first Cup win in 87 starts, dating back to another restrictor-plate race -- a thrilling side-by-side last-lap duel with Kyle Busch at Daytona.

"It's been a long time since I've won," McMurray said. "I just can't believe it's here again."

A win at Talladega is definitely one heck of a sendoff -- a going-away present of the highest order -- but McMurray wanted to make it clear that saying goodbye for now didn't necessarily mean so long.

"Certainly, I'll miss being a part of this organization, but you never know," McMurray said. "You might end up driving for Jack one day again, so I'm not gonna make him mad in this little meeting we're having here."