The Mayfields: Darlington Raceway

The Mayfields are spending this week, along with preparing to go to their meeting place, Darlington Raceway, for Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500, working with a film crew from SPEED Channel on an upcoming episode of 7 Days.

	Jeremy and Shana Mayfield Credit: Autostock
	JEREMY MAYFIELD •   Driver Page •   2006 Stats •   Superstore: Mayfield gear •   Dodge Fast Track •   Jeremy's official Web site

This week: And on the seventh day ...

Q: If you could, take a break from filming and talk about what you think about the number of changes -- drivers and crew chiefs -- in Cup and Busch this season. It's only been 10 and 11 races, respectively, so when is it appropriate to pull the trigger?

Shana: You know, now that the sport is as competitive as it is, I think it's inevitable. What's kind of sad is that all these drivers can drive racecars, or they wouldn't be in the sport they're in at the level that they are.

But it all comes down to the drivers, and that's kind of the sad part about this sport, because a lot of your success has to do with people and chemistry and maybe these guys just didn't have the chemistry.

So I don't think it's fair to kind of pull the trigger on the drivers just 10 races into the season -- but I understand the sponsors are [putting pressure] on them and the Chase is coming up and it's a hard deal.

But these drivers didn't forget how to drive overnight and they didn't get in this series because they didn't know how to drive, so I think if you really believe in the driver, you do what you can to give him what he needs.

If that means changing people, I'd pull the trigger first on changing the people.

Jeremy: Or maybe not changing people, but just moving people around. And that's something I compliment my owner, Ray Evernham, on.

What, Shana? He did the right thing. At least he moved his own people around and tried to get the right people in the right places. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Invariably, when you change drivers around, that's the quickest thing all these teams do, and most of the time it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

Jeremy Mayfield's highest finish this season was 13th at Talladega. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Jeremy Mayfields's 2006 statistics Race Start Finish Status Daytona 26 36 running California 21 22 running Las Vegas 24 25 running Atlanta 20 41 running Bristol 10 16 running Martinsville 23 26 engine Texas 34 31 running Phoenix 28 26 running Talladega 36 13 running Richmond 38 32 running FedEx PreviewNBC/TNT's Marty Snider previews this weekend's race at Darlington Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Q: Some people questioned Jack Roush's wisdom in pulling the trigger so quickly on a crew chief swap -- only seven races into the season -- but so far Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray seem to be running better, don't they?

Shana: Well that's the thing with Roush's deal. His changes have seemed to work, whereas in our situation, you've got two cars moving forward and we seem to be a little stagnant right now -- but nobody really knows the solution.

But Roush's deal worked out -- and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

Jeremy: Just like Jimmy Fennig and Jamie McMurray didn't work out. But neither one of them is bad at what they do.

Shana: Right, but Roush made the changes and now Jamie is running better and Carl is running just as well as he did before.

Our situation, I think, is a little bit different. We've kind of gotten a little stagnant and we don't really know what the answer is.

Jeremy: But a lot of it, too, is luck. We had a good car again last Saturday night at Richmond and we didn't get to show it.

Shana: That's true.

Jeremy: It got wrecked, 20 laps into the race. So a lot of our misfortune has been bad luck, plain and simple.

But most of the time, if you change drivers you don't see as big of an impact as you do when you switch people around within your organization.

Q: Speaking of changes, the water is starting to heat up with a lot of conversations in the media about Toyota coming into Nextel Cup and the Busch Series and how its race teams are going about that. What's your take on that?

Jeremy: First of all, I think that it's cool that they're coming in and that we're here to see it. I remember when Dodge came in -- or got back in -- it was a big deal.

Inside the Numbers Mayfield's Darlington stats Year Start Finish Status 1994 25 33 engine 1995 35 31 running   27 30 running 1996 9 18 running   24 37 crash 1997 19 17 running   19 16 running 1998 37 4 running   27 5 running 1999 11 2 running   11 3 running 2000 21 34 running   1 41 crash 2001 27 3 running   3 13 running 2002 19 16 running   29 20 running 2003 11 30 running   15 6 running 2004 18 9 running   10 19 running 2005 8 33 crash Avg. 18.5 19.1

Any time a manufacturer -- especially one that hasn't been in the sport yet -- comes in, nobody really knows what to expect. That's like, when Dodge came back to the sport, that was a huge deal.

And this Toyota thing, I think the neatest thing about it is that they're talking about Toyota coming in, but they're not really going around and stealing people.

It's just the new race teams that are being formed and they're hiring people from other race teams. But as far as Toyota goes -- you know they're going to run good, because they run good in everything that they do.

They're backing the series and they're backing the teams with all they can, but so is Chevrolet and so is Ford and so is Dodge. So I don't know, but there's a lot of hype going on.

Toyota came into the Craftsman Truck Series and made a huge impact, and I'm sure they will in the Cup Series.

Shana: And I think you have to expect NASCAR to keep going more and more mainstream and this is part of the sign of the times of that and of the changes.

Everyone's talking about Toyota being a foreign manufacturer, but if you want to appeal to more people, that's part of it. People drive foreign cars that live in America.

Jeremy: They're foreign cars, but they're built here in America. So it's really not totally like an overseas invasion.

Shana: Right. We know people exhibit a lot of brand loyalty. It can only make the sport better and create that much more awareness -- whether it's overseas, or whatever.

I just think it's going to make that much more of an impact on the media and that much more of an impact in the sports arena in general -- just having more manufacturers involved in the sport.

Toyota will run the Camry beginning in 2007. Credit: Toyota

TOYOTA NEWS Roush Racing president Geoff Smith isn't as concerned with the reportedly large salary increases Toyota is offering to lure personnel as he is the discounts being offered to sponsors.  •   Complete story, click here Dale Jarrett said Friday at Richmond International Raceway that he is within 10 days of announcing future plans that reportedly have him leaving Robert Yates Racing for Michael Waltrip Racing.  •   Complete story, click here Several drivers have been rumored to be targets to drive a Toyota next season, and Marty Smith writes that Ricky Rudd is among them.  •   Complete story, click here

I don't see how it can hurt. I just see how it can help, and I think it's going to be interesting, it's going to be fun. I think it's going to bring a whole new light to the sport.

I think they're going to do everything right, just like when Dodge came back into the series. I mean, like Jeremy said, there's a bunch of hype, but it's just a story -- and people freak out when something hew happens.

But change is good sometimes and to make this sport better and to get it to the level that everyone wants it to be at, this is probably one of the best things that could happen.

Jeremy: And I think the cool thing about it, too, from what I've heard, is that they've got Dale Jarrett supposedly, and Michael Waltrip is owning the team and driving one of the cars.

They're going after -- or they're not just going after, but the teams are hiring veteran drivers. It's not like Toyota's coming into the sport with the intention of getting the young guns, or whatever, like the rest of them are; at least not right off the bat.

I think that's pretty cool. At least, we all know that Dale Jarrett can drive a racecar and Michael Waltrip can drive a racecar, and I think it's cool that they're pulling those guys into their teams.

Shana: Yeah, and I thought I read somewhere that before, you were paying these young guys great salaries before they even performed or proved anything.

You were banking on expectations because they were marketable or paying them a couple million dollars because you thought they could drive a racecar.

So I think Toyota and its teams are taking the mindset that, 'We know these guys can drive racecars, so we're going to pay them money that we know they're worthy of because they've proven themselves.'

And it's a new deal so they want someone with the stature and the ability to get the car in the show and make an impact right off the bat. I think that's where their mindset is.

And I think it's really good that you don't go after the really young guys just because they're marketable -- you go after the racecar drivers because you know they can drive racecars.

I think that says a lot about Toyota and its teams in general that they're the racer's racer and they're looking for somebody who can get behind the wheel and drive a racecar.

I think that's pretty cool.

Q: Do you think they can come into the series and be competitive right off the bat, and realistically when might they win a race?

Shana: I think they can. They came into the Truck Series and they didn't really skip a beat there. I think they have all the resources and they're going to have great drivers and great teams.

Jeremy: It's not going to be easy, by any means, but for anybody to underestimate them, well, I definitely wouldn't do that.

Shana: No, and they have every opportunity just like all these other teams and manufacturers have, and I think they'll be just fine.

It might not be as easy as they thought it would be, but it might be easier than what they thought it would be. You never know. Nobody knows what's going to happen until they get here.

But they're going about it the right way with what they're doing with their resources and how they're backing their drivers, so I think they'll be just fine. They can't do anything to hurt the sport, for sure.

But it will just up the ante of the competition level even more.

Q: Have you seen much of their personnel around the racetracks, and is that possibly why there are so many inaccuracies floating around, because they're not easily accessible?

Jeremy: It's funny, because as I sat here I thought about that and I couldn't tell you who one of their people is. I couldn't name one person and I don't know anybody who's part of the Toyota deal right now besides Michael Waltrip and the Toyota teams that already exist.

But to see them around the garage, I really haven't noticed or I haven't seen a lot of them, although I did see a trailer and a hauler at Daytona, but I think that was for the Truck Series support.

Other than that, I haven't seen anything or anybody else.

Shana: And I haven't either, unless they're wearing their Toyota Racing Development shirts or something. I haven't seen anybody and I wouldn't recognize them anyway.

Jeremy: And you hear a lot of stuff. There are rumors about paying Dale Jarrett $20 million and all that stuff. I don't think Toyota is starting those rumors.

I think that's just speculation or whatever you want to call it -- that people think they're coming into the sport like that. But I think they've come in pretty humbly and in a quiet way, which is pretty respectful, you know?

Shana: They haven't asked for all the attention. I think that people automatically assumed that since they've backed cars they have a bottomless amount of money to spend.

NASCAR's not going to let that happen. There is gonna be a cap on what you can do and how far you can get.

Jeremy: You're only going to be able to do so much with those Cars of Tomorrow anyway.

Shana: Right. So I think they're making a lot bigger deal about it than it really is. I think Toyota needs a fair chance before people start going crazy and assuming things and writing irresponsibly.

I read an article called 'Coo-coo over Camry' and people were going ape s--- over the fact that they were coming in. Why is that? Just chill out and let them come in and then if it's a big issue you can make an issue about it.

But until then I don't think it needs to be a big issue.

Q: The media has been having a field day with this, but behind closed doors at the shops, are the race teams very fired up over it, or are they paying attention to winning races in 2006?

Jeremy: I think they're paying attention to their own deal, you know? Of course, everybody is wondering what's going to be the outcome of all this, but it's going to be good.

It's going to be good for everybody -- NASCAR is going to make sure of that, I think, and team owners and team members know that. In this sport, as a team owner or a driver or a crewmember you can't dwell on anything very long or you'll get passed up.

Shana: And you can't worry about what's already done.

Jeremy: I think most of the focus on our team, in general, is on what we have to do right now to get better. I mean, you read all the stuff and you hear some of it, but you don't dwell on it very long.

	Slugger Labbe, left, was Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief last year and was suspended in his new job at RYR last week. Credit: Autostock
	LABBE PENALIZED Robert Yates Racing is appealing penalties NASCAR on Tuesday handed to Dale Jarrett's team for violations discovered prior to Saturday night's Cup race at Richmond.  •   Complete story, click here

Q: I know we were kidding about dressing Slugger [Labbe], your former crew chief, up as a box a couple weeks ago so Izzy would light into him, but what's your take on him getting suspended after the Richmond race?

Jeremy: Did he get suspended? I didn't know that.

From what I heard, and I don't know exactly what happened on that deal, but it's funny because last year, when he was working with me, Slugger wouldn't even pull a fender out on a pit stop, so I can't imagine him trying to cheat now.

And doing what he allegedly did, that doesn't seem like him to do that, knowing that he's pretty straight up and really doesn't know how to cheat that much, so it doesn't seem likely to me.

Q: Is that kind of the price of doing business, as competitive as Cup is these days, and you're going to get caught every now and then?

Jeremy: You do, but from what I heard and from what they had, I'm not sure if that was a gray area or not. I think what happened is Slugger tried that before and they got caught with it a few weeks ago and they were warned not to bring it back.

And they did it anyway. And that's what really p----- NASCAR off, is when they tell you not to do something and you turn around and do it, that's just deliberately trying it.

But that just doesn't sound like him, because he's usually not that brave.

Shana: Either way, it doesn't really matter to me, but NASCAR's got to be consistent. And if they've warned him and told him not to do it, then they've got to make a statement.

And if that means a suspension it means a suspension. Maybe he'll learn something from it. I don't know.

You've just got to learn, take your medicine and go with it.

Word Association: Darlington
Homecoming
Jeremy: My old Kentucky home?
Shana: Queen. The beach.

Cale's house
Jeremy: Thanks for the opportunity.
Shana: Betty Jo's house.

Darlington Stripe
Jeremy: I got one.
Shana: I don't.