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Jeremy Mayfield And Bill Davis Racing To Part Ways at Years End

Toyota Motorsport’s pioneer NASCAR racing team, Bill Davis Racing announced Wednesday that Jeremy Mayfield would not be part of their racing program in 2008.

Mayfield was introduced as the driver of the No. 36 Camry at Bristol Motor Speedway last August, who along with Brian Vickers and Dale Jarrett were the ‘big name drivers’ who were suppose to lead Toyota’s first foray into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Mayfield has failed to reach expectations, with a top finish of 23rd (at Talladega) and an average finish of 28th, the second BDR team has not come close to hitting it’s goals. Of the 21 races thus far, the #36 team has qualified for eight of them.

“Jeremy has done all we asked of him and more as part of what has been an enormous challenge in 2007 for the entire BDR Cup program,” Bill Davis said in a released statement. “It has been a huge undertaking to bring Toyota online for their first NASCAR Nextel Cup season at the same time all the teams in the sport were facing the dual competition platforms as we transitioned to the Car of Tomorrow. Bill Davis Racing will continue to support Mayfield and the #36 360 OTC sponsorship package.

“Add to that the challenge of facing the healthiest overall car count in years for the Nextel Cup Series, the elements involved with the top-35 watermark, as well as the education of a company that was in its first NASCAR Nextel Cup motorsports sponsorship, and it has made for some trying times for all involved. We have had great support from Toyota on this endeavor, but it takes more than just manufacturer support to compete on this level; it takes a tremendous amount of additional sponsorship support that just did not materialize as we had anticipated.”

Mayfield, 38, hopes to make his 412th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start when he takes the green flag for the event Sunday afternoon. Mayfield made his first career Cup Series start in October 1993 at Lowe?s Motor Speedway and finished 25th (qualified ninth) in his first Cup Series start at WGI in 1995. He has five Nextel Cup wins and qualified for the first two Chases.

“Despite the challenges, we feel that with Jeremy’s help we’ve made significant progress with our Toyotas here at BDR, especially since the mid-point of the season, and believe we’re on-pace to show marked improvement before season’s end,” Davis added. “When you have a great, veteran driver like Jeremy, it’s always easier to measure your progress. “I certainly understand Jeremy’s desire to explore other options, but we are grateful that we will continue to have his services for a time to help us improve the overall week-to-week effort of the Toyota Cup program.”

“I’ve been in this sport long enough to know that it takes time to bring a brand new car up to speed in what is probably the most competitive racing series in the world,” said Mayfield in the release. “When I made the decision to move here to BDR with an untested car and a sponsor completely unfamiliar with NASCAR, I knew it would be somewhat of a gamble.

“I believed then, and I believe now, that Toyota has a bright future in the Cup Series and is making progress every weekend. You only have to look at their success in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and now in the Busch Series to see where it can go.”

A replacement driver has yet to be named for the No. 36 Toyota.

Fox Sports is reporting that Bill Davis Racing is close to announcing the continuation a 10-year relationship with Caterpillar on the No. 22 Toyota currently piloted by Dave Blaney.

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