ONE-TIMER NO MORE; Jamie McMurray finally notches his second Cup win.(Competition)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Among the 57 one-time NASCAR Cup race winners are legends such as Mario Andretti, Mark Donohue, Johnny Rutherford and Jim Hurtubise. But there are far more obscure journeymen such as Royce Haggerty, Bill Norton, Frankie Schneider and Jack White.

Until last weekend, Jamie McMurray was among the latter group. His breakthrough win came for Ganassi-Sabates Racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October 2002. In his second career start, subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin, he won the UAW-GM Quality 500 by a fraction over Bobby Labonte. McMurray was bright, personable, media-savvy and talented, and racing seemed his for the taking. Instead, it almost took him.

McMurray failed to win in his next 166 starts, sometimes in spectacular fashion. He was 2003's top rookie but couldn't repeat the Lowe's magic in three full seasons with the Dodge-based team. He had a wretched 2006 with Roush Racing, where he replaced Kurt Busch. It seemed McMurray might languish among the one-timers. But not now, after winning the Pepsi 400 with a magnificent run that caught many unprepared.

McMurray beat Kyle Busch by 0.005 second, with Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon a tick behind. The margin of victory tied the second-closest ever, set when the late Dale Earnhardt beat Ernie Irvan at Talladega in 1993; Ricky Craven's record 0.002 second over Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 still stands. But this one was so close that neither driver knew the order.

"When I saw the big TV screens showing the 26, I figured he'd won,'' Kyle Busch said.

McMurray wasn't so sure. "There was screaming on the radio, but I didn't know if it was because they were happy or because they didn't know,'' he said. "I was trying to hold it in until I was positive.''