Jeremy Mayfield - Richmond Preview

 
GETTING AROUND RICHMOND

Richmond is kind of a place where I've been good and I've been bad and
everything in between. I like Richmond because it's a night race. Everyone
seems to like racing under the lights.  It reminds me a lot of racing at
Nashville. That's where I came from.  I used to race there a lot. Richmond's
pretty slick. You kind of slide around there, but it's a good smooth short
track. Bill tested there and had a good test, so I know we'll be using some
of his notes this weekend.

RACING AT RICHMOND

It's a three quarter mile track. It's a short track and you drive it like
that. It kind of puts on the same show as a short track would, but it's not
a Bristol. It's not a Martinsville. Richmond's kind of its own deal. It's a
different kind of track. Some of the tracks you go to are kind of the same,
but this track is it's own. It's got its own style, its own characteristics.

OFF WEEKEND

I think everyone's ready for a little break. You can just kind of tell. I
think I'm going to stay around the house. Shana (fiancé) and I had talked
about going somewhere but we don't really feel like traveling.  I think we
are just going to stay around the house and relax a little bit.

RACE NOTES

*	Evernham Motorsports spent time in the Lockheed wind tunnel in
Georgia this week.  

*	The No. 19 Dodge Squad will test at Charlotte this Monday and
Tuesday, May 6-7.


STATS & FACTS

*	This weekend's race marks Mayfield's 16th career visit to Richmond
Int'l Raceway.  He has two top-10s, with a career-high finish of sixth place
at the track in the spring race of 1998.  His best start at the track is
14th, which he earned in the Sept. race of 1999.  Mayfield competed in both
Richmond in 2001 starting 35th and finishing 36th in the spring race, and
starting 30th and finishing 29th in the fall.
*	
*	Last week at California, Mayfield started the 250-lap race in the
14th spot. He managed to spend the early part of the race in the top 10. The
No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T was a little tight but Mayfield managed to
run with the top 15 cars until he reported trouble and was forced to come
into the pits, falling two laps down.  Mayfield brought out the caution on
lap 196 when the No. 19 Dodge Intrepid R/T was forced to retire for the day
after it stalled on the backstretch. His 38th place finish moves Mayfield
from 18th to 23rd place in the Winston Cup points race.
*	 
*	Jeremy's finish at California puts him into 23rd place in the
Winston Cup points race. He is 114 points out of the top-15. Since the
Daytona 500 this February, Mayfield has moved up 16 spots in the
championship points race (from 39th).  His best overall finish in the points
race came in the 1998 season where he ranked seventh at the season's end.
*	
*	Mayfield's second-place run this year at Las Vegas was his best run
at the track and his best overall finish since the 2000 Pennzoil 400 at
Homestead-Miami where he finished second.  The finish also qualified
Mayfield for the Winston No Bull 5 $1 million bonus, which will be run at
the Charlotte race in May.
*	
*	Coming into the 2002 season, Mayfield had 237 starts, with six poles
(two at Talladega and one at Darlington, Dover, Rockingham, and Texas),
three wins (two at Pocono, and one at California), 33 top fives and 58 top
10s.  His most recent win came at Pocono in June of 2000.