| By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
February 17, 2006
10:44 AM EST (15:44 GMT)
In 2005, Nextel Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield and his wife, Shana, offered their roadmap to a venue-by-venue tour of the entire season. In 2006, a new season brings a new spin on the concept; so join "The Mayfields" for an insightful, irreverent and sometimes downright wacky look at the week-to-week happenings around the Nextel Cup circuit -- and beyond. This week: Speedweeks 2006  | 
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Q: How do you deal with starting the season off with Speedweeks, which is kind of a neat event for some people, but downright hectic otherwise? Shana Mayfield: It's hard. It's like I always tell Jeremy, they consider this, the Super Bowl of motorsports, but the football Super Bowl is always at the end of the season and the World Series is at the end of the season, and everybody gears up for it. So to have this at the start of the season and to kind of get everybody really, really tired right off the get-go, is kind of backwards to me. I guess it's good to get all that excitement going, but it's really hard to get down here for that long, especially for all the guys -- because they've been working such long hours in the offseason, partly to get ready for this one race. That makes this whole event different -- very different. Jeremy Mayfield: And we spend a lot of time down here, for just a little bit of time on the track, the way the schedule has developed. That doesn't really make sense to me. I can remember when we used to practice every day, and qualify and re-qualify and re-qualify -- but now we're down here for the same window of time and we get on the track a lot less. Shana Mayfield: And we even got a two-day vacation while we were down here. Jeremy Mayfield: Yeah, we went home for a couple days when there was nothing going on, on the racetrack last Monday and Tuesday. A lot of people did. Shana Mayfield: It was like, where there was nothing going on, but you still had to be here -- well, there was no sense to that. Jeremy Mayfield: It really was a good thing, though. Shana Mayfield: It broke it up. We definitely needed to get back home. Jeremy Mayfield: And we had some stuff to do at home, so we kicked back for a couple days and then came back down. Q: How much of a challenge is it getting prepared for 10 or 12 days down here at Daytona? Jeremy Mayfield: Oh, it challenges you, yeah, it does. The challenge is, if you've done it over the years, it makes it a lot easier, but it's keeping yourself calm and cool until the Daytona 500 gets here. You know what I mean? It's like a bunch of racehorses. You've been out in the pasture all winter, kind of not doing anything and now it's time to go race -- but you're locked up in the stall ready to go. Shana Mayfield: I'm challenged to not spend a lot of money for 11 days. I get to come here, but I'm not going to some mall every day. You've got to find something to do and I can see a difference in Jeremy's behavior from the time we land to the time that we leave -- because he's all excited and then you get him here and you get him stagnant for a couple of days and it's like, 'ooh, I'm ready to go.' Thursday comes and the 150s are fun, but then he has to practice some more. He's about ill until the 150s get here and he can really go race. You can see a big difference in his attitude. Jeremy Mayfield: And it's just because -- what do you do? All this time here, and you can only go out and eat so many times. You can only do so much stuff. Hell, I've been over here to Lake Lloyd, fishing at night. I go over there just because I've got to do something. Q: Do you feel like, emotionally, there are a lot of peaks and valleys to the long time you're here? Jeremy Mayfield: Yep, that's the way it is. And even practice is a peak, because you just can't wait to practice. Shana Mayfield: Because we're here for so long, there are a lot more peaks and a lot more lows, and that really drains you. You get so excited because qualifying is here -- but then after that you've got two more days and what are you going to do? After the 150s you've got to get ready to practice again and get ready for something else, so it's definitely a lot of peaks and lows. Jeremy Mayfield: Izzy and Mattie went home with us, too. They've come down for the two weeks and it's been cool having them here. They got to get their picture taken, anyways. Shana Mayfield: Yeah, having them here is so much fun. Q: What did you end up deciding to do about your airplane situation? Jeremy Mayfield: Well, we worked a deal out with a company called Airfleet that owns some planes, and we've leased a Citation 3 from them. It's very nice and it's working out well for us. Shana Mayfield: It's based in Statesville [N.C.] and our pilots are flying it. It's kind of like having our own plane, but it's great because now we can walk away from it and we don't have to pay all the great taxes on it -- so it's a good deal. Jeremy Mayfield: We did a two-year deal with them, with options at the end of that time depending on what we want to do. It's worked out well. A lot of people do different things with their flying, as far as travel arrangements. People either buy planes or lease planes or buy hours on places, but we just sold our plane so we thought we'd try something different. We had a Lear 25, and when you go a step up from that, it was a big jump, financially depending on whether the market is up or down for airplanes, so we just had to look around. We decided if we wanted a nicer plane, a bigger plane, let's try this, lease one and see if we like it and we'll see what happens. So far it's worked out great. Shana Mayfield: It's nice -- it's a bigger plane and it's got a bathroom so I'm completely happy about that. I can drink all the water I want on the whole trip. I've got a sink and a bathroom so I'm going to feel like I'm on a luxury jetliner. Jeremy Mayfield: I think you'll see a lot more drivers and owners go to this. Instead of owning a bunch of planes, or as a driver, owning a plane that you can afford -- now, there are so many West Coast races that we run, you need something a little bit bigger. Shana Mayfield: You need something with more range and something that's more comfortable. Jeremy Mayfield: We travel all the time and now there are a lot more West Coast races but to make that jump for yourself is pretty tough. So we're real happy with it. Shana Mayfield: So far. Q: Do the girls like it? Jeremy Mayfield: They love it, man. They've got their own seats and you can raise the armrests up on them so it kinds of fits them right in there perfectly. They just lay their heads over the armrest and chill. Shana Mayfield: They swivel out and swivel around. Jeremy Mayfield: The bad thing about it, though, is that they still don't mind passing gas in the plane, you know? Now, it's just a bigger area for it to circulate through. Shana Mayfield: Exactly. Jeremy decided Izzy needed some tuna salad before we got on the plane the other day, so it was real pleasant ride down here. Jeremy Mayfield: I tell you what -- I've never seen anything like it. They always do something crazy in the plane, but I've never. . . Shana Mayfield: You just wish you could open a window on a plane, just that one time. Jeremy Mayfield: Oh yeah. It was big. |  | | Credit: Autostock |
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| Inside the Numbers |
| Jeremy Mayfield at Daytona |
| Starts |
24 |
| Wins |
0 |
| Top-5s |
2 |
| Top-10s |
6 |
| Laps Led |
10 |
| Avg. Start |
25.7 |
| Avg. Finish |
19.8 |
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Q: They ever stress out on the plane and start fighting, like they just were a minute ago for no apparent reason? Shana Mayfield: Yes. Jeremy Mayfield: They're not afraid to fight, I'll tell you that right now. What's cool is that you never know when it's going to happen. It could happen at the strangest moments. Just out of nowhere a fight could break out. Shana Mayfield: But it's usually got something to do with Jeremy. Either Jeremy's got food or Jeremy talks to one of them and Jeremy doesn't talk to the other. They get very jealous. Jeremy Mayfield: And it looks like all hell is breaking loose on me. You'll hear all this racket and commotion going on. Shana Mayfield: Sometimes one of them will end up with a bloody nose or a bloody lip. Izzy's bit Mattie's nose. Jeremy Mayfield: They'll pop each other in the nose sometimes. But what's funny is the little one, Mattie, doesn't take any crap off any of the other dogs. She'll go to Izzy's butt if she isn't careful. She's the littlest one with the most fire in her. That's why we call her "Big Mama." Big Mama isn't scared of anything. Q: How's the hobby shopping been, down here? Jeremy Mayfield: I've been kind of low keyed on hobbies lately, because I've been about hobbied-out, for a while. But I always go to this one shop down here, Ace Hobbies; and there's another one, Dream Works, that sells airplanes. That's where I bought my R/C jet at, down here. I went over to Ace Hobbies and saw the people that own the place. They're great people and I ended up buying another airplane kit. They had a cool one over there, so I bought it. Obviously, I haven't flown it yet, because I just got it. Q: I was going to say, what's the timeframe for putting that bad boy together? Jeremy Mayfield: It's about ready. It's almost ready to fly. All I have to do is put a motor on it, and I've got the motor and all that stuff. I tell you what, flying those airplanes is pretty cool. It takes a lot of hand-eye coordination and it's pretty neat. If you ever get a chance to do it you need to try it because it's fun. But not around me, because I only fly, like, at night and in high wind conditions. Q: Really? Jeremy Mayfield: Yeah, it makes it that much more interesting. I figure anybody can fly in the daytime, so if you get it out in some lights -- any light is all right, even a full moon -- there's nothing better than flying an R/C airplane at night. It is cool. Q: Does it have wing lights on it so either you or anyone else can see it? Jeremy Mayfield: No, you've got to fly by sound. Everybody wants to have this fly by sight thing, but you've got to fly by sound. That's the way I do it. You listen to the motor and where it's going and all that stuff. Seriously. Shana, you've seen me do that, haven't you? Shana Mayfield: No. Jeremy Mayfield: We've had 'em get away from us and chase us. You think you hear it and you don't and then all of a sudden it comes after you. You ever been chased by an airplane that you thought you were flying? It's not a good sight. Q: Do you have any kind of homing device or a locator if it, uh, goes down? Jeremy Mayfield: Naw. Shana Mayfield: He's filling you full of crap is what he's doing. Jeremy Mayfield: Shana, have I not done that? I'm not bull-crapping anybody. I fly at night and I have no safety devices. If I wreck it I just run it into the ground. Shana Mayfield: He does it. * But you're still on your own property, right? Jeremy Mayfield: Yeah. There's a police officer for Rowan County that comes out to the house and hangs out with us, and stuff. I said, 'watch this, I'm going to fly the airplane.' He said I wasn't, but I said 'oh yeah -- watch this.' So I'm flying it and I couldn't see where it was going and it went right for him, and went right over his head and he took off running. It was wild. Shana Mayfield: Tell him what you did. Jeremy Mayfield: Last night I put it in our pool. I put it straight down into our pool. Q: Off the racetrack, what's your highlight of Speedweeks? Shana Mayfield: I'd say that every year, coming down here and seeing how much the sport is growing, and how many more people and fans are here for this -- and just how much the popularity has gone up. Just going anywhere to eat, every year it gets bigger and bigger, and I think it's pretty cool to see that, you know? You go anywhere, and even me getting recognized is strange. People will see DeLana [Harvick] and I together and recognize us, and it's just weird to me. People will recognize you and say 'hey,' and you're like, 'how do you know us?' I just think coming down here where all the fans are is cool and just seeing how big it has all become. Jeremy Mayfield: And you know, on the same terms, I've been coming here a long time -- several years -- and you know something that hasn't changed? It's gotten bigger and there is a lot more of it, but the style of fans hasn't changed, I don't think. There are just more of them. I don't look in the infield and see a bunch of young people out here. Everywhere, all around Daytona that's probably the thing that I've noticed the most. Shana Mayfield: These are really the diehard, good, Southern fans. Whenever Jeremy goes to do something, like Eli Gold's show on MRN Radio, they really think about their questions -- they know their racing and they know their background. They've followed Jeremy throughout his career and they ask some of the coolest questions, like about when he was back with Cale [Yarborough] and now, driving for Ray [Evernham] and what was it like driving for Roger [Penske]. It's just so cool to hear all these people who really follow and know somebody. Jeremy Mayfield: But it's funny because you don't drive through the infield and hear this hip-hop thing going on. You don't hear all this dubbed music and a lot of loud stuff going on. Shana Mayfield: No, you don't. Jeremy Mayfield: You don't see just a bunch of a young crowd hanging around -- you just don't see that. What you're seeing is good, average, normal people being race fans. It's funny because there are these things that change throughout our sport and that just never seems to change. I see more of them, but I have not seen a change in the style of fans that we have. Shana Mayfield: They say it's going mainstream and Hollywood. Jeremy Mayfield: But it's not. Shana Mayfield: The root of the fan is still the hardcore race fan that's followed the sport and knows it. Jeremy Mayfield: You don't see Hollywood in the infield, or up in the stands. Word Association: Speedweeks • Lake Lloyd
Jeremy Mayfield: Midnight fishing.
Shana Mayfield: Big. • The Infield
Jeremy Mayfield: A small city.
Shana Mayfield: Crazy. • The Flea Market
Jeremy Mayfield: Fresh vegetables. Big junk.
Shana Mayfield: Bargains. | 
