BAKERSFIELD, California -- Rookie David Mayhew from Atascadero, Calif., took his third NASCAR Late Model victory of the season this past Saturday night in the annual Jim Burke Ford night at Mesa Marin raceway. The 50-lap main event win helped him regain his point’s lead, which now stands with Mayhew on top by 13 points.
“The car was awesome; I can't thank the crew enough,” stated Mayhew. “This was a tough win because we were on four old tires. Getting the points lead back is what we were looking for coming into this race, I’m just really happy with how everything worked out tonight.”
The 22-year-old rookie started the night by winning the Trophy Dash. Mayhew then started on the outside front row for the main event. Mayhew quickly made the dash to the front and was leading by the completion of the first lap. He extended his lead over the next 30 laps until a caution bunched the field back up with 20 to go. Mayhew again started to gap the field as another caution flew making it a 10-lap dash to the end. On the final re-start Mayhew had Bakersfield’s Devlin Autry and NWT regular Travis Bennett right behind him. Mayhew pulled out to a two-car length lead early. Then easily gapped the field when the second and third place cars started to race each other and won his third NASCAR Late Model race of 2004.
"On restarts, it took my car four or five laps to get going," Mayhew said. "(Autry) was good on restarts, but I knew if I could hold him off for those four or five laps we'd have the advantage."
The past couple of races have been up and down for the Rookie. After winning two races in a row, the twin main night at Mesa turned bad as Mayhew was involved in a crash in the first main and had to compete in a damaged car for race two. “ The car was torn up pretty bad after the first race and to run as good as we did in the second race was just great. We lost a lot of points tonight though and that’s not what we wanted to do.” Mayhew said. The following week Mayhew came back strong a started working to regain the points that they had lost. He did just that by placing a respectable second place. “The car was really good on the long runs but we just didn’t get many of those tonight,” Mayhew said. “ I think we could have given (Marlin) Gill a shot at the win on a longer green run but he was on his game tonight. We did what we wanted to though, and gained some points back that we lost last weekend.”
Mayhew is contending in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series’ Sunbelt Region points championship. With this win the team is happy to move back up in the standings to the top tier. He is also well ahead of the next Rookie of the Year contender and leading the championship as Mesa Marin. Winning races is nothing new for Mayhew even though he is a rookie in the stock car division. He is a four-time national karting champion, and also has wins in many different open wheel series.
The next race for the DMI team will be the upcoming “Thursday Night Thunder” 50-lap main on July 22.
The team would like to thank the following sponsors: Victory Circle, Penda Truck Accessories, Wells Fargo, Champs BBQ and Catering, R&S Electric, Cooley Construction, Superior Crane, Apex Auto Glass, Car Quest of Paso Robles, 7’s Only, Sampson Communication, Photos by Randall, A&R Welding, and Steve Ferrario of the Real Estate Group. We would also like to thank the following individuals for all their help as well: Allen Montes, Mark Reed, Craig/Les/RG of VC, Jim Watkins, Bill Maropulos, Robert Davis, Charlie Buzzetti, Paul Perez, Keith Vandam, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle, Bobby B, and the entire crew.
For More information on the #26 NASCAR late model of David Mayhew please look at www.davidmayhewindustries.com, and for race information and points standings go to www.mesamarin.com
