NASCAR Cup
Atlanta II: Jeremy Mayfield interview
JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid) "It feels good to know that no changes are being made and Ray (car owner Evernham) and I are staying together. It's a good feeling. It's something you can look at and say that it's behind ...
Published: Oct 25, 2003, 9:52 PM
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JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid)
"It feels good to know that no changes are being made and Ray (car owner Evernham) and I are staying together. It's a good feeling. It's something you can look at and say that it's behind us now and we can go on and race. We've had a lot of distractions the last year and a half really, and now we can put all this behind us."
"We knew the potential was here. We knew we could get the job done. It was just a matter of putting it all together. We've had good cars and good equipment. We just weren't communicating well as a team. That's from me all the way down to the bottom. We kept working, and we all pulled together and made it work. Everything is cool."
"We still have weights on our shoulders. We just got rid of one. We all want to win races and run good. It's a relief to know we don't have to go through all these changes again. We can just race. Ray and I pursued other options to see what was out there, and it was close. He was going to do something different, and I was going to do something different. It was no secret. He knew it, and I knew it. It came right down to the wire, but I'm happy with it. I'm happy for the team and excited about moving on and going forward."
"Ray and I talked about three or four days ago and decided this is what we were going to do. It wasn't one deciding factor. He and I are strong-minded at times. The more we talk the better things are. When we don't talk, they're not good. That's what we had to do."
"We've been about as low as you can go. I've been mad at the team. The team's been mad at me. We made it through all that, and now we can sit here and cut up. If I feel like there's something wrong, I can tell Ray about it. Once you make it through that, you've got a good race team. I don't want to go through it again."
"There's a huge difference in the morale of the team. Everybody knows what we're doing. They know the direction we're going in and they know the plan."
"The 9 team's future was a big concern of mine, but we've finally got something that's working for us. When you've got your chemistry going right, anything can disrupt it. We're not going to tear apart the 19 to fix the 9. We've got to walk a fine line as team members. I've been the junior, sophomore, whatever member of this team for a long time. Knowing the chances of being the senior member one day is real important for me. Hopefully I can step up and use the experience I've got to do that and do it well."
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