Jeremy Mayfield -- Michigan Preview
<<ole0.bmp>> Kristine Curley Golin/Harris 704.924.9404 JEREMY MAYFIELD NO. 19 DODGE DEALERS INTREPID R/T MICHIGAN PREVIEW THE NO. 19 TEAM "We've made some changes throughout the year. Our cars are changing. We're trying to find out what I like with the cars. We've tried stuff that Bill likes and that I like and stuff that Casey's done last year. We've just been all over the board. I can honestly say that we find something every week, but it sometimes feels like we hit it and then we lose it. We know what we've got to do to fix it, and I feel like we're on the same page now, more than we've ever been. Bill's won the last couple of races and I think that's helped us. I feel like we're not far away from the No. 9 car and where we need to be. It's not just about equipment. It's about the guys and all of us getting along and understanding what we need to do and just setting out and doing it and really challenging our goals and doing the best we can." TESTING AT DARLINGTON "We've been planning on testing here for quite some time now. One reason is it's just a good race track for me, plus Mountain Dew and Dodge. Those are just some of the reasons why we needed to test here and learn something so we can come here and win races. We built a new car and we wanted to make sure the car was good - good enough to come here and run and be competitive and have a chance to win. This is a tough place to test at because tires go away, the track's slick and there's no rubber down and everything else. It's been a good test so far in everything we've seen. Yeah, we want to be better, but we've got a plan and we set out to achieve that. So far we've done everything we've said we were going to do. I feel like we've learned a lot of information." CHANCES AT MICHIGAN "I think Darlington will definitely be a shot at a win for us, but we're going to Michigan this weekend and we're going to do the best we can there. I was pumped up about going to Michigan before I came here (testing). We'll take it one weekend at a time though. We've got Bristol coming up. We're certainly going to give it our best shot. We want to run good week in and week out. It'd be cool to have one (win) right before we came here and then win here. That'd be two in a row too. We're going to do the best we can to win in Michigan and give it all we've got and go to Bristol and do the best we can there." **For a complete 2002 race-by-race statistical report on Jeremy Mayfield, please see the attached document "JM Bio.doc"** <<JM Bio.doc>> STATS & FACTS * This weekend's race marks Mayfield's 260th career start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and 18th career visit to Michigan International Speedway. He has two top-fives, three-top 10s and has led three races for a total of 88 laps led at the track. Mayfield earned his best start at Michigan (fifth) in August of 1999. His best finish at the track (fourth) came in last year's spring race. Mayfield's most recent start at Michigan came in June, where he started 31st and finished 36th. * Last weekend at Watkins Glen, Mayfield had an impressive run considering the difficulty in passing at the 11-turn road course. Mayfield drove his Dodge Intrepid R/T from the 30th spot into a top 15 finish. The Dew Crew kept Mayfield from losing track position but an early pit stop left Mayfield in the lead spot on lap 30 after the leaders were forced to come in for service. Mayfield would earn five bonus points and would hold on to first place until lap 38. He would continue to battle for position and was making progress throughout the latter stages of the race but was slowed by the several late race cautions. He finished in 15th place. * In June's race at Michigan, Mayfield started in the 31st spot. He experienced trouble early on in the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T and on lap 81 he was forced to make a green flag pit stop for what appeared to be a cut tire. He would go several laps down, finishing the day in 36th place. * After last weekend at Watkins Glen, Mayfield remains in 28th place, 149 out of 25th place in the Winston Cup point race. * 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 during the May race in Charlotte. * 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. ###