Jamie McMurray Diary: Get set for The Winston

Well, we had another strong run going at Richmond with the Havoline Dodge until we dropped a cylinder late in the race and wound up finishing 22nd. While it's disappointing to see a top-five finish go away, it's encouraging to know that once again we were in contention and had another strong car.

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If we can keep running up front consistently each week, I have no doubt that a win will come. I'm really proud of everyone on this Havoline team for all the hard work and effort they're putting into making this program run so well.

My weekend was pretty busy as we starting filming the FX Reality Show this past weekend at Richmond. A camera crew started filming last weekend at my house and showed what my daily routine is, and then filmed some footage at our race shop.

On Thursday, the camera crew flew with me to Richmond, and then they spent the weekend filming what my schedule's like starting with practice, all the way up to after the race.

While I think I lead a pretty boring life, hopefully people watching the show will find something interesting about it. If all goes as planned, filming should resume in June with the show debuting in early July on FX.

Since we have this weekend off, you're probably guessing that I'm headed off to some warm, tropical place, but actually I don't have any plans yet. I've been at the race shop each day this week working on a project that I started.

I do fly to Kentucky Speedway on Friday night for an appearance and autograph session for the ARCA race, but other than that, I plan to have a pretty low-key off weekend.

Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day weekend. Next time we talk I will have raced in my first "The Winston." I'm really looking forward to that experience.

Now, your questions:

If there was one rule in Winston Cup that you could change what would it be?

-- Danielle, Spring Hill, Fla.

That's a good question, and I don't know that I have an exact answer for you. I think NASCAR does a really good job keeping the competition pretty even and I think every rule that is in place is there for a reason, so I don't know that I would change anything.

Which race tracks do you consider to be the most challenging and why?

-- Krissy, Dubuque, Iowa

I'd have to say any racetrack where the driver really has to find 'the groove' is a difficult one. Tracks like Darlington, and for that matter, Martinsville, are definitely challenging. At Darlington, there's really only one groove and if you get out of it the least bit, you'll get the famous Darlington stripe. Martinsville is just such a mechanical track, with all the braking. But I really like the challenging tracks. I mean, look at Charlotte. That was one of my worst tracks until last October when I finally found the line to run.

Why do you think so many drivers from Missouri make it to the big leagues?

-- Jim Kunce, Kansas City, Mo.

I think it's just a good indicator of how competitive the local bullrings are in the Midwest area. I remember racing against guys like Larry Phillips, and to me, there was no better teacher. I think the competition is so tough at the local level around the Missouri area that it's a good training ground for anyone hoping to make it in NASCAR.

Jamie will devote a portion of his diary each week to answering questions from SI.com users.