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Evernham end Mayfield's contract

Evernham Motorsports have terminated their contract with Jeremy Mayfield, effective immediately

Team boss Ray Evernham said at Watkins Glen this weekend that Mayfield would not return to the No. 19 Dodge this season, but he would not reveal who would replace the driver in the longer term.

Team favourite and former champion Bill Elliott was drafted in earlier this week to drive the car this weekend, but he is only committed to that race.

Elliott cannot drive for the rest of the season because he has commitments to race with the new Red Bull NASCAR team.

Cracks in the relationship between Mayfield and Evernham first became apparent at Chicagoland last month, when Mayfield criticised his team boss for not attending races and putting his focus elsewhere.

However, Evernham says that is not the reason for the split.

"He has been terminated, and I honestly don't want to discuss the terms with that," Evernham said. "When the performance is not up to par, it's frustrating on both sides. The decision was made because of the performance of the car.

"There was certainly frustration, and we weren't pleased with some of the comments that were made. But in no way was that the reason for the change."

Mayfield's fall from grace with Evernham has come quickly. He joined the team in 2002 and made the Chase for the Championship in both of the past two seasons.

However, following his suspension problems at Indianapolis last weekend, Mayfield dropped out of the top 35 in the points standing, which automatically guaranteed him a spot in each race.

Mayfield's last win with the team came nearly a year ago, at Michigan's August race last season.

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