Conversation: Jeremy Mayfield

RICHMOND, Va. -- After several quiet years in the Winston Cup Series, Jeremy Mayfield burst onto the scene in 1998, winning Pocono and leading the points race four times in the first 16 races.

The following two seasons, the personable, free-spirited driver was a weekly contender and championship hopeful.

But 2001 brought forth a falling out at Penske-Kranefuss Racing. Mayfield left the organization and was MIA from the garage for the remainder of the season, choosing to steer clear of the media and the Silly Season saga.

Upon his departure from the Penske, Mayfield aligned himself with Ray Evernham for 2002, starting anew with teammate Bill Elliott in a program that screams precision.

Elliott has a series-high four poles to go along with two wins. Mayfield, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down year, the highlight a runner-up effort at Las Vegas. Though he has just two top-fives, he eyes the future with much anticipation.

Friday morning, prior to the weekend's first practice at Richmond International Raceway, Mayfield hung out with NASCAR.com's Marty Smith to discuss his philosophy on acting, his future in racing and a memorable noogie from the Intimidator.

That commercial for Dodge, the one where you pick up the race-crazed chick, is some funny stuff. Was that your first speaking part as an actor?

	Credit: Autostock

No. (laughing). I've done some stuff in the past with the Mobil 1 people, but that was probably the most comfortable commercial I've done, the one that was more like me, I guess you could say.

It's good to be a part of that deal, to roll up and pick up a hot date in a race car is pretty cool. And for her to be wearing octane 93, well, she did a good job on her part, too (laughing). But it's definitely been a good hit for us and it's been a lot of fun.

Most actors go through years of schooling to prepare for their career. What did you do to prepare?

Mine was all by accident, I think. It was a deal where the part I was supposed to say wasn't quite 'Oh yeah,' it was to answer 'Yeah.' And in a joking way I went, in the uncut version, I went 'oh yeah' and they ended up using that.

So, that was more natural for me because I was kind of joking around and they ended up using it. I didn't have to go to any schools, just had to say 'oh yeah.' That wasn't too bad.

So you're a natural, huh?

	Mayfield left Penske Racing after the 2001 season and took over the No. 19 Dodge. Credit: Autostock

Oh yeah, you've got to have it natural. You can't act like you're acting. You've got to not know what you're doing, then act like you're not acting when the camera's off. But then, they really use it.

Do fans walk up to you now and go, "Heyyyyyyyy Jeremy?"

Naw, that hasn't really happened much - other than 300,000 times, so far (laughing). But that's cool that the fans see it that way.

Everybody at Dodge and the Dodge Dealers really likes that and to be able to use that in their way and it came out a little stronger than it was supposed to. But it was pretty cool.

Man, for a couple years there, it looked like you were going to become a serious championship contender with the No. 12 Penske team. What happened over there?

You know how it is. It just wasn't working out, the chemistry wasn't there and we felt like it was best for all of us to part ways. You and I have talked about this before, and felt like it was just better for me to go on and do something different.

Man, they're doing a great job over there with what they've got going on. Bill's already won two races and we feel like we've got a lot of good for us here and I'm just really happy with what I've got going on here. Definitely want to run better, but real happy here.

After you left the 12, you were you out of the seat for a while with no deal. Is that a driver's worst nightmare?

Yeah, it could have been. At the time, Ray and I had been talking and kind of, pretty much, knew we were going to do something, just didn't know what. That kind of eased my mind a little bit, where I could kick back and just watch it from the outside looking in.

That helped me a lot. If it hadn't happened, I've have been right back (at the track) the next week trying to find something to drive. I had offers at that time. I could have drove a couple of cars to finish the year out, but we felt like it'd be best just to sit out and not jump around.

Was there ever a time when you were afraid you might be left out of the game?

Not really. It was pretty wild. When it all happened it was kind of an honor for me to be in that position because when it all came down I had several really good opportunities that were taking place there.

But I knew in my heart what I wanted to do and which way I wanted to go. That was pretty cool to do that. I knew I couldn't get back to the racetrack and tell everybody because, at that time, we couldn't announce nothing.

So that's why I was pretty much staying away, so I didn't have to lie to the media and tell them I didn't know what I was doing.

It's cool how sometimes those "bad" situations prove so positive. How nice is it to align yourself with such a quality organization?

Yeah, knowing that's the way I wanted to go, in my heart. And Ray and I were friends way before this happened. I've always been a huge Dodge fan. I had a Dodge Viper even when I was driving for Ford over there - if that tells you anything.

When this opportunity even started to come about, I got really excited about it. I just knew that's what I wanted to do. I didn't know how I was going to do it at the time, but it all worked out for us.

Something tells me Ford didn't know you had that Viper.

	Mayfield's season has been marked by inconsistency -- he has 10 finishes of 30th or worse.

I don't know, I think they did. I drove it a lot. There wasn't anybody prejudiced against it, really. That's something I like doing, love my car, drove it quite a bit and a lot of people knew I had it.

I remember when Dodge first made their announcement to come back into Winston Cup, that's about the time I had it. So that tells you right there I was pretty excited about it.

After your bump-and-run pass of Dale Earnhardt to win Pocono in 2000, you jokingly said you were just 'rattling his cage.' What'd he say to you the next time you saw him?

Well, he got me in the headlock and put his knuckles on the top of my forehead.

Gave you a noogie?

He was pretty cool. I knew I had to say something because when you do that to Earnhardt, he's going to be pretty pissed. So I knew I had to come up with something to say, and I figured if I said something he said before, he couldn't really say much to me.

That's probably still the highlight of my career - that move on Earnhardt. And to be able to race against him like we did that. He and I was back and forth all day long, getting each other loose and everything else.

That still pretty cool to look back and know that racing him for a win like that was pretty cool.

You're from the same hometown, Owensboro, Ky., as DW, Mikey, the Green Brothers, all kinds of guys. What do they feed y'all up there, man?

I don't know, must be in the water or something. That's what they say, because there's a lot of mechanics, a lot of drivers, a lot people from that area that's not only involved in Winston Cup, but Busch Grand National, the Truck Series.

I don't know, I always say that Darrell started the deal and we all kind of followed. But it was either learn how to race, learn how to work on a racecar or play basketball. You can tell we're not very good at that, so we learned how to race.

A lot of it is that there's not much to do around there, it's a small town. And there's a little short track right outside Owensboro called Kentucky Motor Speedway and I just went there and got my start. It was either race or stay there and work in a factory somewhere.

Do you have to be able to switch out a carburetor to get your high school diploma?

Pretty much. I think while you're in high school you're trying to figure out how to change carburetors, so you didn't do very good in high school. But still, I'm going to say there's 30, 40, 50 people from that area right now involved with NASCAR racing. That's pretty neat.

Oh, by the way, is that 93 octane you're wearing?

Oh yeah...