Hearing that the #19 Dodge that Jeremy Mayfield won the pole with at Talladega had a Penske engine in it, not one from Evernham Motorsports.(4-4-2003) UPDATE: Give some credit to Penske-Jasper horsepower for Jeremy Mayfield’s pole-winning run Friday. Dodge car owners Roger Penske and Ray Evernham have teamed up to improve their efforts at Daytona and Talladega. Evernham gets engine help for Mayfield and Bill Elliott, and Penske gets aerodynamic assistance for Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace. The cooperation worked in qualifying, when Penske’s engines helped Mayfield take the pole for Sunday’s race while Elliott qualified fifth. Newman was eighth for Penske, but Wallace was 31st. “We both struggled in qualifying at Daytona so we teamed up to work on our restrictor plate program,” Evernham said. “We don’t have a name for it, just a group of people from both shops who built engines for this race.” Like Penske, Evernham builds his own engines. But as a third-year program, his motors lag behind and have been a weakness in the operation – Elliott blew his engine while leading the race at Texas last weekend. “Our motor program is good for a a three-year program,” Evernham said. “But we need access to better technology and Roger has access to the experience and technology we need.”( ThatsRacin.com/AP )(4-5-2003)
