Mayfield to drive No. 7 truck in Lowe's race

Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith announced Monday that Jeremy Mayfield will drive the team's third Dodge Ram entry in the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday night.

	Jeremy Mayfield

Mayfield, who pilots the No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, tested the No. 7 Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports last week at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Jimmy Spencer, who drives Smith's No. 7 Winston Cup Dodge Intrepid, was scheduled to drive, but soreness in his ribs from a hard crash at Richmond International Raceway two weeks ago prevented him from testing the truck last week.

"I want to thank Jeremy for stepping in and driving this truck for us," Smith said. "Jimmy's ribs are still a little sore, and we want to make sure he has all the time he needs to recuperate because we've got good things going with our Winston Cup team.

"Jeremy tested the truck and did a great job, so we asked him if he'd like to drive and he said he would. We're looking forward to having fun this weekend."

Ultra's Dodge Ram teams combined for three wins, 11 Bud Pole Awards and 23 top-five finishes last year.

"We were posting some good times testing the Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports last week, and I said to the guys, 'Man, you're going to have a hard time keeping me out of this thing,' " Mayfield said.

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"It got some of their guys excited, and it got me excited. So when Jim Smith asked if I'd be interested in running the truck in this weekend's race, I was really pumped to do it. It's just another example of the relationships that the Dodge teams have with one another. All of the Dodges are one big team here. This is a win-win situation, and hopefully we can put this Dodge Ram up front for everybody involved."

"We want to do this for Dodge," said Ray Evernham, President and CEO, Evernham Motorsports. "When this opportunity came up we were happy to help Dodge and its truck program. This just shows the level of commitment that Dodge puts across the board with its Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series teams."