Jeremy Mayfield won last season's 15th race -- his Pocono win was the first of his Winston Cup career -- and led in points at that juncture. After that, he was outside the top 15 in 11 of the final 18 races and wound up seventh in points. Will he become one of the sport's consistent winners, or will that day at Pocono be a high-water mark?
Career
Mayfield made switch to Kranefuss-Haas team after spending first 23 races of 1996 with Cale Yarborough. Earned Talladega pole in July, his 66th career start. Finished fifth at Atlanta and fourth at Martinsville as his highlights with Yarborough's team.
He posted only one top-15 finish after switching teams, but finished a career-best 26th in Winston Cup points despite missing the season finale in Atlanta.
In 1995 he won on the DieHard 500 Busch Pole Award with a speed of 192.370 mph in his RCA Ford. Made a mid-year swap that sent John Andretti to his old ride and Mayfield to the distinctive No. 37 car owned by Michael Kranefuss and Carl Haas.
It was only the second for his team at the time, Cale Yarborough Motorsports. Mayfield not only won the pole, he shredded his competition. His speed was nearly 2 mph quicker than the second-fastest driver, Jeff Gordon.
Other bright spots for Mayfield included a run at Dover that took him from 35th to 15th at race's end, as well as a third-place qualifying run at Charlotte that was derailed by a blown engine. Mayfield and his new team experienced the growing pains that are predictable for a budding race operation.
Qualifying third at the UAW/GM Quality 500 was their best effort together.
In 1997, he had 15 finishes in top 20 in first 20 races, including stretch
of nine races with best of fourth and worst of 17th. Only made top 15 twice
after that, though, and fell from eighth to 13th in points over final 12
races.
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Mayfield was ARCA Rookie of the Year in 1993. It was there he caught the eye of several NASCAR Winston Cup Series owners. He has already joined the exclusive "Million Dollar Club," with more than $1.2 million in earnings. It's a total that's expected to climb considerably.
He recorded his first top-10 finish in Winston Cup with an eighth-place
finish at Pocono in 1995.
Although he did not post a win Mayfield lead three races for 79 total laps. He
finished 31st in Winston Cup points, up from 39th in 1994.
Began racing in 1982. Competing in go-karts, street stocks, sportsman,
late-model stocks and ARCA cars before moving to Winston Cup.
Won ARCA Rookie of the Year in '93, posting eight top-5s and 10 top-10s.
Joined Cale Yarborough Motorsports in 17th race of '94 season. Still seeking
first top-10 finish in Winston Cup. Favorite activity outside motorsports is
golf. Spouse: Christina.
Sources: NASCAR Press Guides, Star and News staff reports.
