No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger Race Facts
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series --- Talladega Superspeedway
Driver: Jeremy Mayfield
Team Director: Kenny Francis
Crew Chief: Slugger Labbe
Team Owner: Ray Evernham
Chassis: No. 111
Car Info: Raced in Daytona 500
Started 24th, finished 23rd
JEREMY MAYFIELD QUOTES
“Our restrictor plate program has improved. I think it showed at Daytona and we've made improvements since then. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) and the crew continue to make huge strides in improving the balance. Now, we just need a little good luck to go our way. At Daytona and Talladega, you can't make a mistake because the cars run so close together. At the same time, you're always concerned about getting caught up in an accident.
“With 10 miles left in the Daytona 500, we were running in the top 10. Then there was an accident and we apparently ran over some debris and cut down a tire. We had to make stop to change the tire, so that took away a good finish (Mayfield finished 23rd).
“Despite the problems we've had, we're still just a little over 50 points (56) out of the top 10. I think this No. 19 Dodge team is ready to make a move.”
STATS & FACTS
JEREMY MAYFIELD AT TALLADEGA
This weekend marks Mayfield’s 22nd career visit to Talladega Superspeedway. He has three poles, one top five and one top 10 at the track. His best finish at the track is fifth, which he earned in the fall race of 1998.
Mayfield’s first start at Talladega came in 1994, when he started 24th and finished 37th due to an accident.
POLE-HAPPY AT TALLADEGA
Mayfield earned his seventh of nine career pole positions, and his first for Evernham Motorsports, in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway in April of 2003. The pole was Mayfield’s third at Talladega, and makes him one of only four active drivers to score three or more poles at the track (Bill Elliott – eight, Sterling Marlin – three, Joe Nemecheck – three).
Mayfield earned his first career pole position at Talladega (DieHard 500 – 7/28/96), making him the only active driver to have earned his first career pole at the track. He earned his second Talladega pole (third overall) in April of 2000.
HOLDING STRONG
The No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team is holding strong in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series point standings at 16th – only eight points out of the top 15 and 56 points away from the entering the top 10.
TURNING POINT
After testing at Kentucky Speedway in March, Mayfield’s No.19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team improved upon breakthrough aerodynamic changes originally discovered in the Atlanta race. Mayfield was pleased to announce, "We said we were going to test our butts off at Kentucky and really figure it out. We hit on something that's going to be huge for us the rest of the year. It will get the aero balance back where it needs to be. This is definitely going to be the turning point of our season.”
