BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Hampton, Ga. — “We’re back to square one”. Those were the words from one member of Richard Childress Racing after he was asked about Jeremy Mayfield staying put with his current No. 19 for the 2004 season.

Apparently Childress, along with GM officials, was somewhat surprised as word spread through the NASCAR Winston Cup garage that Mayfield had inked a deal keeping him in Evernham’s Dodge. It’s not known how far down the path Mayfield had gotten in his talks with Childress, but judging by the amount of concern shown in the affected camps it was likely very far.

With Mayfield off the table names that were advanced included Johnny Benson, who was formally told this week that he’d not be returning to the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac in 2004 and John Andretti.

Also talked about was 2003 Indy Racing League Champion, Scott Dixon, who recently tested very well in a Cup car, at Kentucky.

Evernham, during an at times contentious interview session with the media here at Atlanta, said that he’s giving driver Bill Elliott all the time he needs to decide his course of action for the ‘04 season. Elliott, who with the conclusion of the 2003 season is nearing the end of his current contract commitment to Evernham, is evaluating his options.

Evernham says that he believes that the 48-year-old Georgia native “won’t leave me hanging.”

FASTIDIOUS INSPECTIONS
NASCAR inspectors had the boys jumping through hoops, today, as the inspection process left some teams tinkering with their cars. Atlanta is a venue where any little improvement that can be found can yield big results. That’s both with aero and under the hood with horsepower.

The majority of the repair work was completed with judicious hammer raps here and there, but the No. 77 car needed it’s front valance raised via saws-all by close to an inch after inspectors found issue with it.

The No. 0 Haas/CNC entry, which is piloted this weekend by its new driver, Ward Burton, had its carburetor grabbed when NASCAR officials discovered the venturies were too large.