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"Ray and I pursued other options to see what was out there, and it was close," Mayfield said. "He was going to do something different and I was going to do something different. It was no secret. He knew it and I knew it."
The No. 19 team has had its share of ups and downs this season, to be sure. The team dipped to as low as 33rd in the Winston Cup standings after 13 races this season, but seems to have picked itself up in recent weeks.
Mayfield finished second at Richmond and Dover last month and third at Kansas earlier this month. He was very vocal about his future after his runner-up effort in Dover.
"No matter if it's Dodge, Dodge dealers, Ray, me -- whoever would split this team up is crazy. I wish everybody would print that. That's how confident I am.
Now it would seem that Mayfield has been rewarded for that confidence.
"We knew the potential was here. We knew we could get the job done," he said. "We've been about as low as you can go. I've been mad at the team. The team's been mad at me. We made it through all that and now we can sit up here and cut up.
Mayfield said the problems have also taught him a valuable lesson in communication.
"(Evernham) and I are strong-minded at times. The more we talk, the better things are. When we don't talk, they're not good. That's what we had to do.
"Once you make it through that, you've got a good race team," Mayfield said. "I don't want to go through that again."
Mayfield will start 15th in Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at AMS, a position he's not thrilled about, but not overly bothered by, either.
"That wasn't the best, but it certainly isn't the slowest," he said. "We picked up a bit from practice and that's all you can hope for.
"I like Atlanta, it's always been good to me."
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