Questions have popped up about his ride in 2009 in what has so far been a ho-hum 2008 for the driver of the No. 26 Ford. As he prepped Friday for this weekend's Pocono 500, McMurray denied a report earlier this week that he's looking for a new boss.
"Well, when all of it came up, we just all talked and I never asked to get out of my contract, and they never said that they were going to release me from my contract," McMurray said when asked if he's spoken with team owner Jack Roush or president Geoff Smith. "There was never any discussion of that."
So what are his plans for 2009?
"The same thing that I'm doing this year: the Crown Royal, No. 26, with Roush Fenway."
The hubbub got started after the Charlotte Observer reported that McMurray would not return to Roush next season, and that he's actively seeking other employment. He has been with Roush since 2006, when he moved over from Chip Ganassi.
McMurray said Friday that he hasn't put feelers out to other teams, and that he wasn't aware of other teams inquiring about him. He said that he's happy and not worried about 2009.
McMurray has more immediate concerns. He's 22nd entering Pocono, 10 spots behind the postseason cutoff. In 13 races, his best finish so far is eighth at Martinsville.
He said "bad luck and freaky things" hampered the No. 26 car the first month of the season, when McMurray didn't finish higher than 22nd. Things have gotten better of late, including a 10th-place finish last week at Dover.
"The thing about racing is that you run well for four weeks and everything's great," he said. "If you run bad for two, it seems like you need to go find somehwere else to drive."
Sponsor Crown Royal, the whisky company, gave McMurray a vote of confidence Friday afternoon.
"Jamie McMurray has been, and continues to be, a great ambassador for Crown Royal and our important efforts on responsible drinking. We look forward to continuing this work both on and off the track."
McMurray isn't the only Roush Fenway driver of late answering questions about the future.
Greg Biffle said there was no recent movement on his dragged-out contract talks, a week after the driver of the No. 16 Ford said a new deal with his current ride could be coming soon.
"I guess no news is good new right now," Biffle said. He added, though, that he was "pretty confident" that a new deal could be reached next week, when NASCAR heads to Michigan.
McMurray will start 22nd on Sunday, while Biffle will begin from the 33rd position.
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BOWYER'S FUTURE: The future also was a hot topic Friday with Clint Bowyer, though the driver of the No. 7 Chevy has received word that he'll be back with Richard Childress Racing through at least next year.
He said Friday that Childress has exercised the option he held on Bowyer's contract, and Bowyer is now working toward a long-term extension.
Asked later if he was happy about Childress picking up the option, Bowyer said, "Yeah, yeah." His No. 7 Chevy will start 35th on Sunday.
Bowyer, who has two Sprint Cup Series wins, isn't surprised that so many drivers' names are on the rumor mill this early in the season.
"Everybody wants to know where you're going to be. Sponsors are paying a lot of money to be able to know where they are going to be and they want to be there for a long time," Bowyer said. "It takes so long to get a team put in place -- get the right driver, the right crew chief -- all that stuff put in place. You need to get started early."
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TUNED-UP SPEED: Scott Speed likes to get into a groove before a race.
The former Formula One driver puts on his headphones and tunes his iPod to a techno track, specifically a style called of techno known as trance. "Before the race, I listen to a really cool trance beat and put myself somewhere else," Speed said. "I guess it's really kind of relaxing."
Whatever his routine, it's working. The ARCA rookie will start from the pole at Saturday's Pocono 200 after he turned a lap of 167.442 in qualifying Friday.
This comes a week after Speed won his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, at Dover last weekend.
Given his recent fortunes, the phrase emblazoned on his blue T-shirt Friday seemed especially fitting: "God Speed."
"It would be a huge challenge if I could be successful doing this," Speed said, headphones dangling off his ears. "I'm basically starting a new racing career, like I'm starting from scratch."
There's a huge difference between Formula One and NASCAR in just ambiance alone. On his old circuit, he used to hang out at the casino in Monte Carlo or rub elbows with royalty at parties in Dubai.
NASCAR, though, attracts more of the ham-and-eggs set.
"You have no idea how many times in my life I said I would never race NASCAR," Speed said. "Never."
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FAMILY TIES: The ARCA rookie who will start 21st in the Pocono 200 has a last name familiar to Long Pond residents.
Chase Mattioli, 18, had a qualifying run of 158.242 on Friday, likely pleasing his grandparents, Drs. Joe and Rose Mattioli, who own Pocono Raceway.
Racing probably won't be a full-time job though for the younger Mattioli, at least initially. The honors student plans to attend Fordham University in the fall.
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CLOSE CALL: Greg Zipadelli and his wife planned the birth of their third child so he wouldn't be in danger of missing Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway. Even so, the couple pushed it pretty close when Gianni Gregory didn't arrive until late Wednesday evening.
Zipadelli was on a plane roughly 15 hours after the birth so he could attend to his job as Tony Stewart's crew chief.
"It was close," Zipadelli said. "We were supposed to go in Monday morning, and they called and said they would rather wait until Tuesday. Between Monday and Wednesday, they had 21 babies and they didn't have any beds. So we were packing our bags and they asked us if we could hold off another day and come in Wednesday morning.
"I was like 'This is not going to work out very well for us.' But, everything worked out and everybody is good. The baby is real healthy. It's just a shame I had to leave to come here."
Zipadelli said there was never any discussion of him missing Sunday's race to attend to wife, Nan, and the infant he's nicknamed "Meatball" during their brief meet-and-greet. And he said he received zero grief about it from his wife.
"That's part of life," he shrugged. "She's doing good. If there was any complications or any issues, it would be different. But everything went as smooth as it possibly could and Gianni is as healthy as can possibly be."
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AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.
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