Up where he belongs: sure, Jeremy Mayfield climbed into the Chase in his last possible chance this season. But it was just the latest accomplishment for a guy whose career is on the move.(NASCAR)(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

Publication: The Sporting News

Publication Date: 27-SEP-04

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Sporting News Publishing Co.

Ever wonder how a Nextel Cup driver drives when he's in a regular car? In a word, aggressively. Earlier this year, Jeremy Mayfield was test-driving a new Dodge SRT-10, seemingly intent on beating its recently set production truck speed record. Somebody needed to tell him that the SRT-10 record was set under controlled circumstances, not rush-hour traffic. Somebody needed to tell him you can't draft behind a pickup truck on a highway.

Somehow, we didn't get into an accident. Somehow, he didn't get a speeding ticket. Somehow, without gripping the wheel with both hands or watching where he was going, he kept the thing pointed in the right direction while close enough to the truck in front of us to know what the driver had for lunch.

Then, in a fitting analogy for his career to that point, Mayfield ran out of gas.

For years, Mayfield had fallen short of his promise, his talent outweighing his results. Then came the September race at Richmond, where his turnaround continued with the most dominant performance of his career in the...

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