The Mayfields: Pocono

This week, the Mayfields return to Pocono Raceway, located in the bucolic Pocono Mountains honeymoon resort area.

On the one hand, a recent hot topic in the Poconos has been adding a casino to the otherwise verdant landscape. But on the other hand, recent rumors in the garage have Jeremy Mayfield switching addresses in 2007.

	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: Have you got game -- or a place to play?

Q: As we head up to Doc and Rose Mattioli's palace in the Poconos, did you know Doc was considering adding a casino at the raceway, until he gave up on the idea?

Jeremy: Man, I didn't know that, but I think that that would be a really good idea for them to do that. They need one somewhere up there.

Hell, they've got the lottery, just like everybody else does, so they might as well have a casino.

Shana: There's not much to do up in that area. I mean, there are some things, but usually you see casinos out on Indian reservations or out in the middle of nowhere.

You look at that racetrack and it's out in the middle of not a whole lot going on, so it might bring a lot of people into the area, you know, attract a lot more people -- especially people like Jeremy that like to gamble and play the slots.

But they definitely need card tables, too.

Jeremy: Might keep them a little happier, too -- but it might make them madder if they were losers. I don't know.

Shana: Yeah, but they could have a hotel there with it, too, and that would be cool.

Q: You almost need to have someone screening your visitors with all the rumors swirling around you. Does that make what's always a circus-like atmosphere even tougher?

	Jeremy Mayfield says he and Ray Evernham have a good relationship. Credit: Autostock
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Jeremy: It's tough, but it could be worse. You could not be in the rumor mill or to have anyone talking about where you might be going to get another ride.

But I think a lot of it is speculation, too, you know? And that creates a lot of these rumors and creates a lot of needless animosity, too.

But it could be true, too. I think it's just part of the business. It's part of what keeps NASCAR going -- wondering what everybody is going to be doing next.

It keeps everybody in a job. There are some people out there in the media who wouldn't have jobs if there weren't anything to write about. There are a lot of people out there who depend on us to give 'em good stories.

And that's what we've been doing.

Shana: I think it's been interesting -- but I never thought that we would be in the rumor mill again, once we did what we did, making the Chase the last two years.

We thought we'd be at Ray's [Evernham's] forever -- which we might be -- I don't know. But it's tough when things aren't going good and there is nothing really being done to change that.

So people start speculating and of course, Jeremy airs his frustration and it gets turned all around.

But at least we're getting talked about and it's a good thing to know that somebody out there wants Jeremy to drive their racecars and wants him to be a part of their organization.

So that's a good feeling and like Jeremy says, we could be sitting here and not have any choices or have anybody talking about us -- so at least they're talking about us and hopefully it will all work out one way or another, in the long run.

Jeremy: And one other thing, too. Like Shana has said, when Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. and Michael Waltrip switched teams [last year], you didn't see anybody, Teresa [Earnhardt] or whoever, giving up on [Dale Jr.].

They didn't push him out the door, and now they've switched the teams back and now [Dale Jr.'s] running good again -- for whatever reason that is.

But I've been around racing long enough to know that rumors are going to start flying when you're running bad and then you just have to learn how to deal with them and you either deal with them, or you move on.

If you don't, you take it as it comes.

Shana: And I think that [at Chicago] and even before that, Jeremy hasn't been crying for Ray's attention, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this far into the season, it isn't working.

And you would think your owner would be on top of it to fix it. And that's the thing that got all the rumors going and that's got everybody concerned.

Jeremy: And it got two stories going. Yeah, I'm frustrated with how the year's going -- which anybody would be.

And the second thing is, that's what I was talking about. Ray and I have been fine. There have been no problems between he and I, personally.

The thing about it was, if I was asked, "Was he here that day?" Well, I hadn't seen him, so I couldn't say that he was. The next thing you see is that was the story -- but it really wasn't.

The story is, we haven't been running good, we know that, and Ray is and has been the leader of this deal and he's been doing what he can to fix it.

That's just the way it is -- normal and straight-up how it is. I'm not going to sit here and dwell on it.

Shana: I'm not going to dwell on it, either. But what upsets me, and I've told Jeremy this before, is that this is our livelihood. You just want a lot of questions asked.

Jeremy Mayfield is 33rd in points. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Jeremy Mayfield in 2006 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 Darlington 30 38 running Charlotte 2 15 running Dover 2 18 running Pocono 26 23 running Michigan 18 36 running Sonoma 32 22 running Daytona 42 36 running Chicago 16 24 running Loudon 37 29 running Average 24.5 26.8

If we're not wanted, just tell us we're not wanted. Or if you're going to fix it, tell us you're going to fix it.

I feel like we've had a great relationship with Ray, but it's hard for me to laugh about it when it is your livelihood and my husband's dream -- it's his career. But then again, you've got to sit back, like he said, and go with the flow.

It's all kind of out of our control at this point. All we can do is sit here. Jeremy didn't forget how to drive a racecar overnight. He made the Chase two years in a row and Kasey [Kahne, teammate] should be doing well with that team.

That's great and obviously Ray made the right decision in that fact, but here we are running 30-something every week so something's not right in the deal and it's kind of hard to laugh about that, I feel like.

Q: Does the area you go to have any effect on things? Somebody last month said going to Pocono is relaxing because it's so much out in the country?

Jeremy: It does.

Shana: It is, but it gives you more time to dwell on everything. There's not a lot to do so Jeremy and I found ourselves sitting around and talking about the situation and what's going on.

But like Jeremy said, we need to weigh our options and see what we're going to do. That's always been his attitude, to look at it head-on -- it's what it is and you can't run from it, so let's talk about it.

But this week, going to Pocono he's able to fish and he's got his hobby shops he likes to go to, so that will get his mind off things. So I think different areas do help.

The fan support has been great, too.

Jeremy: The thing about it, too, is that you can easily get caught up in this and feel like it's a big deal. It is, but it's not.

I watched Bobby Hamilton on TV the other night, right before the truck race came on. Bobby's a good friend of mine, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, because he helped me a ton at Nashville [Speedway].

Seeing him made me appreciate what he said and how he said it. He said he could remember saying he didn't like this person or that person.

Shana: Or he complained about his situation.

Jeremy: But he said he wouldn't do that again. It humbles you when you see something like that.

	Jeremy Mayfield signs autographs for fans at Pocono in June. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Jeremy Mayfield (Pocono results) Year June July 1994 NA 21 1995 25 8 1996 15 12 1997 5 9 1998 1 18 1999 9 35 2000 1 10 2001 36 18 2002 36 38 2003 15 38 2004 2 9 2005 14 18 2006 23 ?

I've got a lot of respect for that guy, anyway, so every once in a while I've got to do a reality check on myself and realize it could always be worse -- no matter what.

That's kind of what gets me through all of this. That, and the support we've been getting from the fans.

I just want to let everybody out there know that we appreciate all that support, for me and for the team, through thick and thin because that's kind of cool.

It does make you feel pretty good that you've got a lot of fan support, no matter what happens and no matter how you run.

Shana: That's what I mean about people who stick with you through thick and thin and who know what Jeremy is capable of and the person he is. That's what means a lot.

That's the thing that makes me think that good things happen to good people, and that something good's going to come out of this, somehow, someway. It always has and you have to trust it will this time, too.

Q: This is another weekend where a bunch of your competitors have to go back and forth between Pocono and Martinsville. So looking at it from the outside, do you think that's more exciting and dramatic for the fans?

Jeremy: I think that's a good thing because it adds something to the weekend. That's certainly not a bad thing.

Shana: Yeah, but it puts a lot of stress on the drivers, and that's not anything you want to happen.

You have all the logistical things with the weather, and Pocono's not a place you want to fly into, either, when the weather's bad and it's all foggy.

That's definitely not one of my favorite places to fly into, late in the afternoon, or late at night when it gets kind of foggy, so I would just really rather not be flying back and forth from Pocono to Martinsville -- or anywhere else, for that matter.

Q: The Poconos are a big-game area, and we always see deer around -- and even on the track -- so do you ever grill any game in the motor home lot, or does anyone?

Shana: We see a lot of coach drivers grilling, but ours doesn't.

Jeremy: Buster, he doesn't like to cook. He doesn't really like to do a whole lot, you know?

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He just wants to take you in [to the coach] and depending on what weekend it is, or what town we're in -- or whether Mrs. Buster is in town or not -- we may or may not see him.

Buster's girlfriend travels with him, anyway, to most of the races.

Shana: Jeremy, you better watch it!

Jeremy: What? She does.

Shana: I know, but there might be more than one, and you don't want to make them mad.

Jeremy: They won't be reading this, anyway. But his girlfriend travels with him, and when she does, he doesn't get much done.

But most other guys, their coach drivers grill out for them and all that stuff.

Shana: But we don't grill game. If we grill anything it's like, chicken, or burgers -- no deer or anything like that.

Jeremy: I'll tell you something else. We don't really like wild game and stuff, but Buster; he will grill out sometimes, when he grills him up an opossum or something like that.

Shana: Ooh, no! He does not.

Jeremy: Oh yeah, he loves opossum.

Q: Is there any place in the motor home lot that's hangout central -- or are people kinda doing their own thing?

Jeremy: I think it used to be more than it is now, because now everybody seems to be doing their own thing. Everybody's schedules now are so busy.

Shana: But you see a lot of kids in Pocono, riding around on their little scooters and people riding around and stopping and visiting on their golf carts.

But there's just one long line of motor homes -- it's not like a big circle or anything, so you have to hike a bit to get anywhere.

It's pretty cool to see all the kids at the playground and everything. That's kind of fun. We usually take the dogs and they like to go over to the playground sometimes. It's a fun place.

Jeremy: Pocono's a good place for that, though. It's a pretty family oriented motor home lot.

Word Association: Pocono in July

Heart-shaped Tub
Jeremy: Red-hot. I'm sure Buster's got one.
Shana: Honeymooning.

Frontstretch
Jeremy: A runway.
Shana: Goes on forever.

Boondocks
Jeremy: BF Egypt.
Shana: Needs a casino.