Jamie McMurray as a driver has made quite a name for himself, being the 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 champion. And while he is still seen on the track, it isn’t in the role of a driver. He is guiding his son Carter McMurray into the racing spotlight.
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Growing up, Jamie sharpened his skills in go-karts, navigating nearly every karting circuit across the nation before advancing to late-model stock cars. Following in his father’s footsteps, Carter, born on November 25, 2010, to McMurray and his wife Christy Futrell, started his karting journey in 2019 at 9, just a year after his father hung up his NASCAR helmet.
Carter’s racing debut was at the local Trackhouse Motorplex in Mooresville, N.C., where he won his first track championship in the Briggs Cadet division by 2021. Then, he moved to the Junior Class for 12-16 year-olds the following year, to compete in national karting events.
While senior McMurray transitioned from the lanes of NASCAR to the analysis booth with Fox Sports in 2018, his son Carter is carving out his own path in the racing world.
The young McMurray made waves in 2023 with a series of victories and titles at venues such as Trackhouse Motorplex, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway, marking a banner year in his budding karting career.
Stepping up in 2024, Carter expanded his racing portfolio by venturing into U.S. Legend Cars. He revved up his involvement starting with the Charlotte Winter Heat at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and then moving on to compete in the Summer Shootout series.
As Carter takes on the Legends Young Lions division, McMurray finds himself in a new supportive role, recently seen cheering on his son at the 2024 Legend Car Asphalt Nationals. Talking about his new role and challenges as a father, he said,
“It’s way harder to watch him races because things are out of your control… I’m just basically reliving my childhood again through him. Much harder when it’s not e-driving. But, I mean as a parent it’s the highest high and the lowest lows and sometimes within five minutes each other.”
Former NASCAR Cup Series driver, Jamie McMurray, still spends a lot of time at the race track, but now as a father of a race car driver as his son, Carter, races in the Legends Young Lions division. At the 2024 Legend Car Asphalt Nationals, we spoke to him during a pause in the… pic.twitter.com/00lqFnAeP7
— Legends Nation | LegendsNation.com (@legendsnation) October 27, 2024
Jamie McMurray was replaced by Kevin Harvick in the booth
Jamie McMurray, who stepped in as a guest analyst for Fox Sports during their 2023 broadcast season, did not return to the booth in 2024 in the same capacity.
Fox, shifting away from their recent strategy of rotating guest analysts, originally adopted the approach in 2022 after Jeff Gordon departed to take on his role as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
Instead of seeking a full-time replacement then, Fox invited various guest commentators, like McMurray.
However, the strategy saw its final days as Fox announced a change in direction following Kevin Harvick’s retirement from racing last year. This year, Harvick joined Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the commentary booth as a permanent fixture, filling the slot left by McMurray.
