The sanctioning body announced Feb. 11 a maximum of three restart attempts prior to the white flag. If the leader has taken the white flag and the caution flag is displayed, the field is frozen and the race will not be restarted. Previously, there was only one restart attempt.

On Sunday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, McMurray needed two for a Daytona 500 victory.

He led just once covering the final two laps thanks in large part to a push from Greg Biffle then had to hold off a fast closing Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap for the win.

“Biffle helped me out,” McMurray said. “I spun the tires on the restart. It is just a gamble on which line to get the biggest run. Greg gave me an unbelievable push down the backstretch. Then when I saw the No. 88 [Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) behind me, I thought 'Oh no'. He had a good car and Earnhardt at Daytona is just, I mean they win all the time it seems like. So you never know what to expect.”

Kevin “Bono” Manion, McMurray’s crew chief, couldn’t bare to watch the final lap.

“I closed my eyes for the last lap," Manion said. “I guess this means I'm going to Disneyland! That was awesome. Chip [Ganassi], Felix [Sabates], and Teresa [Earnhardt] give us everything we need. You'd better watch out for this Earnhardt Ganassi Team this year. Thanks to everyone who helped push.”

McMurray had a tough time trying to put his Daytona 500 victory into perspective and keep his emotions under control.

“It’s unbelievable,” McMurray said. “I really can’t put into words the way it feels. It’s very emotional. I don’t know that I’ve cried like that. I’ve kept trying to compose myself.

It just means so much. You know, for me, to be in position that I was four or five months ago, to have Chip and Felix and Bass Pro Shops welcome me into their organization, it means a lot. It’s a great way for me to pay those guys back.”

McMurray’s win in the Daytona 500 capped a successful two weeks of competition at The World Center of Racing for WIX Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, at Daytona and gave the company a rare Speedweeks “hat trick.” In the Feb. 6 Budweiser Shootout, race winner Kevin Harvick and each of the top-five finishers were equipped with WIX Filters. Five days later race winner Kasey Kahne and the top-five finishers in the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona were equipped with WIX products.

McMurray scored his third victory in 30 restrictor plate races and his fourth in 259 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts. He led the race for just two laps, the fewest ever by a Daytona 500 winner. McMurray claimed his second victory and fourth top-10 finish in 15 races at Daytona. His other Daytona win came in the 2007 Coca-Cola Zero 400. He was victorious in the most recent restrictor plate race in October 2009 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

McMurray averaged 137.284 mph in a race that took 3 hours, 47 minutes and 16 seconds to complete. The event was stopped twice for 2 hours and 24 minutes for repairs to the track surface between Turns 1 and 2. There were 52 lead changes among 21 drivers and McMurray’s official margin of victory over second-place Earnhardt Jr. was .119 seconds (about one car length).

Since 1939, WIX® Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks and off-road equipment. WIX, a member of the Affinia family of brands, is the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance Product. Its NASCAR relationship also includes the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, which recognizes the drivers leading the most laps in each race. For more information, visit www.wixfilters.com.

Affinia Group Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of industrial grade products and services, including extensive offerings of aftermarket parts for automotive and heavy-duty vehicles. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.affiniagroup.com.

Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit www.raybestoschassis.com.

*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.