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Nothing to lose We need to win to break into top 10 in standings
Posted: Monday November 01, 1999 09:14 PM
It's the beginning of the end for this season, and everybody is beginning to feel it. Dale Jarrett is leading the points, and you know that team is counting the laps until the end of the season. The guys running second and third are still thinking about the championship but, most likely, they're also looking seriously at who is chasing them right now. As for the Mobil 1 bunch, we're thinking about how we're going to finish the season off. We're 11th in the standings and we're doing everything we can to move up at least one more spot in these final three races. I could sit here and tell you we're in the best possible position for the top 10 but it's pretty obvious being in the top 10 is better than trying to get in the top 10. Still, I don't think we're in that bad of a position either. There are things you can do from 11th that you can't do from 10th. In a lot of ways, we don't have anything to lose now. We can go for broke every race. We don't have to really worry about the points. Running up front is what is going to make the points for us, so we have to do whatever it takes to run up front. We can take some chances on set up, maybe let the car hang out a little more than we might otherwise, and really go as hard as we can go. In the last three races have shown what we can do. We tightened up right at the end of the Rockingham race, and that dropped us back a couple of positions. We were probably looking at a top five there and ended up with a top 10 instead. We were really good at Talladega. We had some bad luck right at the first when we had to switch ignition boxes but we were able to draft our way from dead last to right up at the front, so that shows what kind of car we had. We got popped in the rear end towards the end of the race, and that threw our aerodynamics off just enough to drop us back. I think we could have easily finished top 10 and probably top five there too. We were great at Charlotte. We got behind a little bit after our last (caution) pit stop and had to play catch up at the end, but it was a great car. Again, sixth is not what we wanted but we were headed where we wanted to go.
Things are turned around for this Mobil 1 team. We're not where we want to be yet -- until we win races and championships, we're not where we want to be - but we are headed in the right direction. Peter (Sospenzo, crew chief since May) has gotten things moving for us. The guys on the crew, the engineers, everybody is working hard to get things where we want them. We're right on the verge of breaking through. It might happen at Phoenix or Homestead or it might happen at Atlanta. And it might happen at the first of next season. But that breakthrough is going to come and come soon for us. We see it happening, we feel it happening and, when you talk to other people around the garage, you can tell they see and feel the same thing. Our finishes at Phoenix haven't been where we want them but we've had some really good runs there the past couple of years. Our cars are capable of running well there, we just need to finish ‘em off. It's the type of track we can get around pretty well. You need a good-handling car to make Phoenix work and we've had some good-handling tracks. If you're hooked up at Phoenix, you can really go. I guess Dale Jarrett proved that a couple of years ago when he made up a lap under green and won the race. I'm not sure anybody can be that strong again but we think we can get a car hooked up and give them a good run for their money. We have to finish well in these last three races. If we're going to make a run on (Mike) Skinner for 10th, we've got to run really good and finish really good. We can't figure on those guys making mistakes. They might have some problems but we're going under the attitude that they aren't going to hand it to us. If we want it, we're going to have to go take it. This Mobil 1 team can do that. We're capable of that. And maybe we'll make that last charge with a win or two along the way. Jeremy Mayfield drives the No. 12 Ford Taurus for Penske-Kranefuss Racing on the Winston Cup circuit. His column appears every Wednesday on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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