Pocono a source of confidence for Mayfield

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeremy Mayfield calls it the "highlight of my career."

He's talking about the Pocono 500 four years ago when he nudged Dale Earnhardt out of the way on the last lap to score his third career victory.

Pocono Raceway, site of this weekend's Pocono 500, has always been special to Mayfield. It's where he got his first NASCAR victory, and it's where he got his last Cup victory.

	Both Evernham teams have come close to winning this year. Credit: Autostock

Yes, Mayfield is on a four-year losing streak, despite several good runs over the last couple of years.

But if there's a place to end it for Mayfield, Pocono is it. And he can point to the day he beat the legendary Earnhardt as proof.

"That's the story of my career it seems like and definitely the highlight of my career," Mayfield said of that race.

That year, Mayfield was driving Penske Racing's No. 12 Ford, and he ran up front a lot. One of the guys he battled was Earnhardt.

"That's about the time in my career I started running well at a lot of places," Mayfield said. "We raced hard together it seemed like a lot. That day at Pocono we were back and forth, whether it was first and second or third and fourth. It seemed like we were in the top five all day racing each other."

If Mayfield was ahead, Earnhardt would close behind, take the air off Mayfield's spoiler and slip past. A few laps later, Mayfield would do the same thing to Earnhardt.

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"We did that all day long," Mayfield said. "We did it more than it showed. The highlights show the last lap, but we did it all day long. The last 30 laps he and I came in for a pit stop and put on two tires each. That put him first and me second, and I knew then I'd try anything between now and the end of the race to pass him."

Mayfield also knew that Earnhardt would turn the tables on him. So Mayfield waited until the last lap to make his move.

"I really feel like I had one shot to do that, and to be honest with you we were dead even all the way to five to go, nose to tail," Mayfield said. "We went into the tunnel turn, and he pushed up a little bit and allowed me to get a run on him."

As they charged into Turn 3, Mayfield got up to Earnhardt's bumper. And into it. Earnhardt slid up the track, and Mayfield whipped past to take the checkered flag.

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"I really wasn't expecting to move him out of the way," Mayfield said. "I thought the way he is you could bump him, and it wouldn't phase him. When I drove up behind him I guess it took the air off of him. He got loose and there we were in position to win the race.

"It surprised me about like it did everybody else. I just wanted to go up there and bump him one time before it was over with to let him know we were there. It all worked out for me, and the good thing about it was that Dale Earnhardt."

Earnhardt fans didn't really see it that way, and Mayfield felt their wrath for some time. But Earnhardt didn't seem to mind.

"I saw him a couple of weeks later. I avoided him up until then," Mayfield said. "He grabbed me and rubbed his knuckles on my head a little bit."

"Man, I thought you were going to be mad at me," Mayfield told Earnhardt.

"No, I'm not mad," Earnhardt replied. "I'm mad at a couple of things you said."

Mayfield had said after the race that he intended to rattle Earnhardt's cage, much like what Earnhardt said after he and Terry Labonte collided at Bristol a few races earlier.

"I told (Earnhardt), 'Man, if you were me and I was Dale Earnhardt in the last quarter of the last lap at Pocono to win the race, what would you do?'" Mayfield said. "He smiled at me and walked off, so he was just an awesome guy. He could dish it out and he could take it. I think that's the sign of a true champion."

Mayfield has endured some disappointments since that race, from losing his ride at Penske to losing several chances at victories in recent years. Last weekend at Dover, Mayfield had one of the strongest cars and appeared to have a good shot at ending the losing streak.

But he was swept up in an 18-car crash that damaged his car and left him stuck in the mud.

"What helped us get over it was we still came out of it with a top 10," Mayfield said. "After all the stuff that happened we still finished eighth, and I think if that hadn't happened it would have been devastating. We ran good and still finished in the top 10 and we'll go on to next week."

Next week, of course, is Pocono Raceway, a Mayfield favorite.

"It's one of those places that early in my career I adapted to real quick," Mayfield said. "I like going there. I like racing there. It seems like my confidence level is up every time I walk into the gate, so it's just one of the places I've always run decent at, but I've had some bad runs there, too. I'm either real good or real bad, but it's definitely a place I like."

And it's the place where he beat Dale Earnhardt. That's enough to give anyone confidence.