In 1992, Jamie started driving NASCAR late models winning the track championship at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Mo. in 1997, and defeating former NASCAR Winston Racing Series champion Larry Phillips for the championship.
Jamie got his first taste of NASCAR's big time in 1999, when he competed in five Craftsman Truck Series events. Competing in 15 NCTS events in 2000, Jamie garnered the Bud Pole Awards at Michigan and Nashville and a third-place finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In October of that year, Jamie was tabbed to drive for Brewco Motorsports in the Busch Series.
Jamie competed in all 33 Busch Series events in 2001, posting three top-10 finishes. It would hardly be a precursor of what was to come. In 2002, McMurray followed up his impressive rookie season with a pair of Busch Series wins, Atlanta and Rockingham. As a result of this success, he was picked by Chip Ganassi to fill in for the injured Sterling Marlin in the final six events of the 2002 Cup season.
It didn't take for the NASCAR scene to take notice of the upstart Cup driver, as Jamie pulled off a stunning upset at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October of that year to win in only his second career Cup start. Jamie’s true rookie season in 2003 brought five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 36 starts, including third-place finishes at Indianapolis and Bristol. When all was said and done, Jamie took home rookie of the year honors. 2004 has been somewhat of a disappointment for Jamie. While he holds 215 point lead for 11th place overall, he just missed out on the top 10 and the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
