You could say polesitter Jamie McMurray was experiencing mixed emotions after the race, too, but no one, including McMurray was certain what the driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was feeling when he climbed from his car.
McMurray ran fourth, after runner-up Jeff Gordon and third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed him in the closing laps.
“I’m happy that I’m mad that I finished fourth, if that makes any sense,” McMurray said. “I thought I had a chance to win, but when the last caution came out (on Lap 90), I was working (race winner) Carl (Edwards) there a little bit, and I was just waiting on him to make a mistake. I felt like I was better than he was.
“And when we went back to green, after the caution, I just used up too much car in (Turns) 1 and 2 and spun the tires really bad and paid the penalty for that the remainder of the run. But it was a really good day. Our pit crew did a really good job. We had a huge group of people with (sponsor) Cessna here today.
“So overall, I’m mad that we finished fourth, but we had a great weekend.”
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