Mayfield Rides Out Challenging Weekend

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 25, 2008) -- With a 39th-place finish at the Auto Club Speedway, Jeremy Mayfield found out first hand that in California when it rains it really pours.

Rain cancelled Friday’s practice and qualifying session and Mayfield’s No. 70 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS was relegated to the 33rd starting position (based on last season’s final owner’s points) for the Auto Club 500. Rain again cancelled practice on Saturday after Mayfield had run only five laps.

Despite the lack of track time heading into the race, crew chief Dave Skog and the No. 70 Haas CNC Racing team were still optimistic for the race based on a successful test here just a few weeks ago.

The team’s optimism was quickly soured however, when Mayfield’s car blew a right rear tire after only 55 laps. The blown tire destroyed the car’s quarter panel and numerous pit stops were needed to alleviate a tire rub from the damaged metal.

Mayfield eventually went 10 laps down to the leaders before the race was red flagged for rain. When the race resumed on Monday, Mayfield was relegated to riding out the laps and maybe picking up a position or two through attrition.

“The car was really loose at the beginning of the race,” Mayfield said. “But the blown tire really ruined our weekend. With the rain and all of the delays – to have something like that happen just made a bad weekend worse. It’s tough, but we have to keep our heads about us and move forward,” Mayfield said. “We need to stick together and improve as a team. We’ve got to step up to the challenge. A strong finish at Vegas will help.”

Following Mayfield’s 39th-place finish he is 34th in points.

The No. 70 team now heads to Las Vegas for Sunday’s UAW 400. The race will be broadcast live on FOX at 4:30 p.m. EST and on local PRN affiliates.