Jeremy Mayfield -- New Hampshire Preview
JEREMY MAYFIELD NO. 19 DODGE DEALERS INTREPID R/T NEW HAMPSHIRE PREVIEW GOING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE AFTER A TOP 10 RUN "We had a top-10 run at Richmond, and we're taking the same car back to New Hampshire, so we're real excited about it. I feel like we had a decent car the last time at New Hampshire, so we're looking forward to getting up there. "It seems like we've got a lot of momentum going. We went to Darlington and didn't run as well as we thought we would, but up until that point we were getting better and better every week. We just kind of missed the setup a little bit at Darlington and came back at Richmond and really had a top five or six car all night. The way the cautions fell, the sequence of Saturday night's race got us back to 10th. It just shows we've got a good strong team that can recover from a race we thought we were going to run real well at." HOW TO RUN WELL AT NEW HAMPSHIRE "You've got to know the track about midways on is not going to be like it was when you started. Who ever can prepare for that the best will be the ones who run well there. The ones who run the best, you don't hear them complaining about the race track. The ones that aren't running good, they're the ones who usually complain about it. EXCITEMENT ABOUT RETURNING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE "I'm excited about going to New Hampshire. One of the guys asked me, 'Why would you be excited about going there?' I can't wait to race. When you're running good and feel like things are going in the right direction, you can't wait to get back to the next week. That's where we're at right now. We feel like we're just now starting to get going and we've got a lot of good things in store for the future with this team at different tracks coming up, so I'm excited about it." RAY EVERNHAM ON NEW HAMPSHIRE "New Hampshire is a unique track. It's a flat track. Track position is important, and for a while, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton hit a combination there that worked. I think now with the change in tires and a change in some of the things we're doing with setups, a lot of other cars are closer. I'm actually looking forward to going to Loudon, and I wasn't the first time because it hasn't been historically one of the best tracks for Bill or Jeremy. It seems like our flat track program has really come alive this year with Bill sitting on the pole there for the last race. We had a little bit of carburetor trouble that kept Bill from getting a good finish. Jeremy actually had a good run. We just didn't keep him in the track position that he needed. We're taking the same car for Jeremy and a different car for Bill and hope we can go up there and have a good run. We're focused on top 10 runs for that #9 car and building Jeremy's team so it can get closer to the top 10. RACE NOTES Jeremy Mayfield tested at Greenville earlier this week. STATS & FACTS **For a complete 2002 race-by-race statistical report on Jeremy Mayfield, please see the attached document "JM bio.doc"** <<JM Bio.doc>> * This weekend's race marks Mayfield's 264th career start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and 14th career visit to New Hampshire Raceway. His best finish at the track came at the New England 300 in July 2000 finishing eighth - his only top-10 finish at the track. A year later he recorded his best start at the track qualifying third. Mayfield has improved or maintained his starting position in eight of his 13 starts at New Hampshire. His 2002 average starting position is close to three spots higher than after 26 races in 2001. * Jeremy Mayfield rolled off 12th (after qualifying 14th) in the season's first race at Loudon. Mayfield moved up immediately, finding himself in the seventh spot by lap 12. He spent the day riding out the various pit stops, which had teams taking different tire combinations throughout the day. On lap 224, Mayfield found himself in the 13th spot, but a tight handling car forced him to lose ground. He battled through the last round of pit stops, finishing in 19th place. * Last weekend Jeremy Mayfield looked to duplicate his impressive run at Richmond in May when he finished fifth. He narrowly missed doing so again at the difficult to pass three-quarter mile track. Mayfield finished in 10th place after he was forced to pit for a splash of gas with less than 20 laps to go. After starting from the 21st spot, Mayfield began making up ground immediately. He drove into the top five by lap 91. An ill timed caution midway through the race put several of the former leaders a lap down, including Mayfield. Throughout the next 25 laps, the Dew Crew worked on the No. 19 Dodge Intrepid R/T including the right front fender after the race leader made contact with Mayfield's Dodge. He was in 17th place by lap 260. Fourteen laps later, he would pit, taking on two tires and pulling out in second place. He would battle with the leaders and work on lapped traffic throughout the next 65 laps. Running in the top five with 19 laps to go, Mayfield was forced to come into the pits for a three-second gas stop. He managed to maneuver through the traffic to capture a 10th place finish. * After last weekend's race at Richmond, Mayfield moved up into 27th place in the Winston Cup points race. He is 11 points out of 26th place and 63 points from 25th. The last time Mayfield was 27th was heading into July's New Hampshire 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.