#12 Team to go away? UPDATE 2: Mike Wallace will replace Mayfield in the #12 Fords for the rest of this season. The future of that car beyond that point is undetermined. It’s possible that Roger Penske’s operation could be a two-car team again next year with Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman and the #12 team’s sponsor, Mobil, as an associate on both cars or sharing primary sponsorship with Alltel on Newman’s Fords(That’s Racin’)(10-5-2001) UPDATE: Officials at Penske’s shop say that there will be a No. 12 team next season, despite the loss of Mayfield. For one thing, Mobil’s sponsorship, an $11 million a year deal, has another season to run.(Winston Salem Journal)(10-7-2001) UPDATE 2: Rusty Wallace held court yesterday at Martinsville Speedway, offering his opinion on everything from the surface of the track to the future of the #12 team that recently cut loose driver Jeremy Mayfield. Wallace said he would not be surprised if Roger Penske’s No. 12 team did not run next season. “We don’t know if we’re going to continue on with the [12] car or not,” said Wallace, who co-owns his team with Penske but has no financial interest in the other Penske Racing teams. “We might just take the 12 car and shut the team down. . . . I wouldn’t bet against it and I wouldn’t bet for it. Right now, they’re trying to find out what they want to do.”(Richmond Times Dispatch)(10-13-2001)
