YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RECAP
2006 Finished 39th in series points. … Competed in 22 of 36 races. … Joined Bill Davis Racing after being released
from Evernham Motorsports.
2005 Finished ninth in series points. … Third career finish in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Top 10. … Finished with one win,
four top fives and nine top 10s. … One highlight was Aug. 21 win at Michigan International Speedway. ... Earned a
berth in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup for the second consecutive year.… Suffered only one DNF.
2004 Finished 10th in series points. … Second time in career he finished in the NASCAR Top 10. … Won dramatic
September Richmond race to secure position in “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.” He was 14th in the standings
entering the race, but the win bumped him up to ninth. … Finished season with one win, five top fives and 13 top 10s.
… Captured poles at both Dover races. … His two season poles were second highest in a season since 2000 (four).
… Suffered only three DNF’s all season – second lowest total of his career.
2003 Finished 19th in series points. … In his second season for Evernham Motorsports, scored his best championship
effort since finishing 11th for Penske-Kranefuss in 1999. … Posted 12 top-10 finishes, including four among the top
five. … Season-best finish was second, which came during the fall events at Richmond and Dover.… Recorded the
seventh pole of his career at Talladega in the spring. It also was his first since 2000 when he recorded a career-high
four for the season.
2002 Finished 26th in series points in his first season for Evernham Motorsports. … Scored a pair of top-five finishes,
a second at Las Vegas and fifth in the spring stop at Richmond.
2001 Finished 35th in series points. … Earned a pair of runner-up finishes, but parted ways with No. 12 Penske South
team after the inaugural race at Kansas Speedway.… Announced that he would drive the No. 19 Dodge for Evernham
Motorsports in 2002.
2000 Finished 24th in series points. … Roller-coaster season included two wins, four poles and 11 DNFs. … Won at
California in April, then passed Dale Earnhardt on final lap to win the Pocono 500 in June. … Missed two races after
sustaining closed head injury in practice accident at Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.
1999 Finished 11th in series points. … Highlight of the season was second-place finish at Darlington in the spring.
1998 Finished seventh in series points, leading the points race four times in the first 16 races. … First career victory
was at Pocono, passing Darrell Waltrip for the lead 20 laps from the end. … Won No Bull Sprint qualifier and won
Winston Open, both non-points races. … Won second career pole, at Texas.
1997 Finished 13th in series points, his first full year with Michael Kranefuss. … Best finish was fourth at Daytona in
July, after starting 25th.
1996 Finished 26th in series points. … Went through mid-season driver swap, starting the season with Cale
Yarborough, then switching to Michael Kranefuss’ team when John Andretti did the reverse. … Scored a fourth and
fifth-place finish with Yarborough, winning his first pole in July at Talladega.
1995 Finished 31st in series points, his first full season. … Registered one top-10 finish (Pocono).
1994 Finished 37th in series points. … Ran four races each with Earl Sadler and T.W. Taylor before moving to Cale
Yarborough’s team for the final 12 races of the season.
1993 Made series debut at Charlotte in October, finishing 29th in only start of the season.
PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY
Made the jump to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series from ARCA, where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1993
with 10 top-10 finishes, including eight among the top five. … Also landed Rookie of the Year honors in 1987 at
Kentucky Motor Speedway. … Career began racing go-karts in 1982 and then moved up through weekly tracks of
central Tennessee, competing in street stocks, sportsman and late-model stocks.
NOTEWORTHY
While competing in Late Models as a teenager, Mayfield painted the signs at the local race track and often painted the
numbers on other drivers’ race cars to make ends meet. At 19 years old, he moved to Nashville, Tenn., to serve as a
fabricator for Sadler Racing although his ambition was to drive. He worked diligently at the race shop and it paid off
after roughly a half of a season as the Sadlers gave him a Late Model car to compete. He still had his duties at the
race shop and it proved educational in showing Mayfield the various skills it takes to prepare a race car from the shop
to the track.