Jeremy Mayfield watched patiently while Ryan Newman took over the seat of his No. 12 Penske ride, won rookie of the year honors in 2002 and the most races of any Winston Cup driver in 2003.

Meanwhile, after entering the 2002 season full of hope over his new gig with the No. 19 Evernham ride, Mayfield limped to a 26th-place finish in 2002 and was rumored to be on the chopping block at the end of the 2003 season.

It hasn't been easy for Mayfield, trying to deliver on the championship promise everyone saw in him after he finished seventh in 1998 driving the 12 car.

And just when he thought he might finally be in position to fulfill that promise -- with a contract extension in hand and eight top-10 finishes in his last 13 races of 2003 -- Mayfield was dealt another blow of uncertainty: Mike Ford, who orchestrated a top-10 finish for Mayfield's teammate Bill Elliott and provided invaluable support and information to the 19 team, is leaving Evernham Motorsports for Robert Yates Racing.

But Mayfield said he is unshaken. His entire team is staying together. The bond between Mayfield and crew chief Kenny Francis is stronger than ever. And he believes, with Ford departed and Elliott mulling over retirement, that he might be able to carry the banner for Ray Evernham in 2004.

"(It was) a long season," Mayfield said. "At least now we can go into next year with a lot of momentum we haven't had (in years past). I haven't had that since I've been here. This is the best I've felt since I left the No. 12 car and we were at the top of our game over there. Our cars are better, and we know what direction to go in.

	Jeremy Mayfield, right, is aiming for a top-10 finish in 2004.

"We (were) really good the last 10 races. We ended up with 12 top 10s and the 19 finished 19th in the standings. Hopefully we can pick up next year where we left off the last third of this season."

Mayfield said he thought the truning point for the year was when the rumors of his eminent firing were at a high and his finishes for the season were at a low. He was down to 30th in the standings and the team faced a tough decision.

"I think at that time we were about as low as you could go with a race team," he said. "The team was down. I was down. Our confidence was down. We could either sit here and cry about it or fall off the earth or we could start pulling together as a team and get better, and that's what we did. All areas of our race team have gotten better. It's every little piece of the puzzle, and that's where Ray is good. He's good at noticing what areas are weak and making them strong."

Since then, Mayfield was re-signed and the crew was secured for at least next season. That's the note the 19 finished the season on -- stringing together a couple of top fives and racing for fun.

"I've been in the relief mode for a long time now, about six months," Mayfield said. "I'm having fun now racing and to finally get back toward the front and be halfway competitive again is feeling real good. Any time you've got that going on, it's a lot more relief than struggling or reading on Jayski whether you've got a job or not."

Evernham said he was going to try to run a Busch car for about 15 races next season, trying to give the 19 crew more track time to gel, which will be huge for a team which -- although it came out of 2003 with just a 19th-place finish -- showed race-winning potential.

"I would love to be able to run my own Busch car," Evernham said, "to enter 15 times next year with Jeremy driving it because I feel like it can help that team while they're still growing."

Ford's departure is something nobody on the 19 team can control. Mayfield said the team is going to concentrate on the things that it can and try to put the pieces in place to run for a top 10 next year and a couple of checkered flags.

"I've been saying all along that this team has what it takes," Mayfield said. "We've definitely been heading in the right direction and you're seeing it on the track. This team is capable of winning races and we're not giving up. It's a good feeling when you're able to run in the top 10 on a consistent basis."

Rupen Fofaria is a freelance writer living in Chicago and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.