The Mayfields: Indy

This week, the Nextel Cup Series heads to Indianapolis for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, which has become a notable stop on the circuit for all manner of announcements.

Coincidentally, the Mayfields still find themselves in the middle of full-blown speculation about not only their futures, but also a number of their competitors'.

	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: Brickyard Crossings?

Q: There's a lot of mystique about going to Indy, so what did you guys think when NASCAR first announced it would take Cup racing there?

Shana Mayfield: Jeremy, you better answer that because I wasn't really around it, back then.

Jeremy Mayfield: I think at first everybody wasn't too sure about how we were going to run stock cars around that place, and nobody really knew what to think about it.

And then, once we actually ran a race there, everybody was like, "Wow, that was pretty cool." Now it's turned into one of the biggest NASCAR races that we have -- if not the biggest.

At first, a lot of people just weren't too sure about what to expect, and now it's just become an awesome deal. I mean, you look at all the fans that show up for the NASCAR race, compared to the Indy car race or the Formula 1 race, and you can clearly see the best race there now is the NASCAR race.

Q: Did you feel like NASCAR deserved to be there, as some Indy car purists questioned?

Jeremy: I don't know if it deserved it, or what -- and like I said nobody really knew what was going to happen, or what to expect.

The outcome now is, when you look back over history, is that it's easy to see that it was a good move for everybody.

Q: Twelve or 13 years down the road from the first Brickyard 400, taking into consideration all the crazy stuff that's happening this season, do you look forward to going to Indy?

Inside the Numbers Jeremy Mayfield at Indy Year Start Finish 1994 31 26 1995 8 29 1996 19 25 1997 16 5 1998 12 42 1999 19 29 2001 16 18 2002 12 39 2003 10 41 2004 13 11 2005 2 4 Averages 14.4 24.5

Shana: I look forward to it. It's a lot of hoopla, but it's worth it. The only thing I don't look forward to is the weather. The heat there is the hard part about it.

It's really so extremely hot there this time of year, but it's a lot of prestige and it's a lot like the Daytona 500 in that there's a lot of hoopla and there are a lot of people and a lot of celebrities there.

There is a lot of attention given to this race and I don't know, it's just kind of a different feeling when you go there. It's cool -- all the tradition there is really cool so I really look forward to it.

There's great shopping, too, in Indy and that's always pretty fun.

Jeremy: I love it, too. I think it's one of my favorite races to go to.

Shana: I think Jeremy says that every week -- every place is one of his favorites. I don't think I've heard him say one place isn't, yet.

Jeremy: You've got to like 'em -- you can't be beaten before you get there, right?

Q: There are so many short tracks in Indiana, so do you find that the race fans there are particularly enthusiastic?

Jeremy: I think so. Indiana is a huge racing state that's sometimes kind of overlooked in that aspect. If you look at all the racing history in Indiana -- in Indianapolis -- and like you said, looking at all the little dirt tracks there, there's a huge amount of fan support.

When I first started racing go-karts, I raced up in Indiana at a lot of places, so there are plenty of racetracks there and I think it's definitely overlooked as far as how big of a racing state it really is.

Q: Indy has become a favorite place to make announcements. This has been a somewhat crazy Silly Season already, with you guys right in the middle of it, so to this point, what's been the biggest Silly Season surprise to you?

Jeremy: I think my biggest surprise, sitting here today getting ready to go to Indy, is probably that the 19 car -- my car -- is available, or so we hear.

I would have never thought that, a year ago, to be honest with you, that's the biggest surprise that I've seen. I can't believe that I'm going to be changing teams and that my ride's available, if it is.

Maybe they might be waiting on me. I've still got a contract to drive the 19 for a while. Heck, we're hearing my ride's available, but I'm still in it, so we plan to do the best that we can with it.

Coming to Indy, hearing that stuff is really a surprise to me. I think we finished fourth last year and had a shot to win the thing. So a year ago, there we set and a year later, the 19 car's available -- so that's pretty wild.

Jeremy Mayfield has been driving the No. 19 Dodge since 2002. Credit: Autostock

Shana: It's like we've been saying, you've done everything right -- you get in the top 10 two years in a row when they create the Chase format and you win races.

You do everything you're supposed to do right, and yet we're sitting here not knowing what's going on or even hardly how we got here. But I think some great opportunities are going to come about either way.

A surprise to me -- and I don't really think it's a surprise because I think everybody in the industry knows that Jeremy can drive a racecar and he didn't forget to drive one overnight -- but that people are acknowledging the fact that he's still a great racecar driver.

The phone's been ringing and people are interested in him, people feel Jeremy can add to their program and that's been a great thing for his confidence, because like Jeremy says, the biggest surprise to us is that we're in this situation, because we didn't think we would be.

So to counter that by having people call is a good morale booster for he and I both, because we never thought we'd be in this situation. So to know that people out there still want you and still feel like Jeremy can contribute a lot is a great feeling.

Jeremy: It really is, and there's been a great network of support. When you're running bad, it's easy to sit there and go "Man ..."

Shana: Point fingers, or whatever.

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 Pocono 22 37 running Average 24.4 27.3

Jeremy: Your confidence gets down -- the whole team's confidence gets down -- and all of a sudden when rides come available and people are calling you, you say, 'Wow, people still are interested in me even though we're running bad right now."

But I think the race teams and owners out there know that it's not one guy that's a problem -- and it's not like I'm sitting here and Ray [Evernham, team owner] and I are on bad terms or anything like that.

It's just a fact that it's time to move on and when it's time to move on it's a good thing that there are great opportunities out there -- I mean really, really, really good opportunities.

And that's something that's made me really pretty proud to be a part of creating that, by what we've done here at Evernham Motorsports.

Q: If there is one domino that has got to fall to open up the Silly Season floodgates, what do you think it is?

Shana: I don't think there is one key thing that's got happen. I think a lot of the balls are rolling.

Jeremy: I think what's wild, though -- and I know what you were getting ready to say, Shana -- but the funny thing about it is that Elliott Sadler is the only one that doesn't know where he's going, you know what I mean?

Everybody else knows where he's going, but he doesn't?

Shana: Of course there are a lot of legal things and a lot of those kinds of things that have to be covered.

Jeremy: Right.

Shana: And I think that there are a lot of other things to be done. I don't think there's one thing that needs to happen. Everything is falling into place -- it's just that nothing can be announced because there are still a lot of things that need to be discussed and done.

Jeremy: Right.

Shana: It's not like you're just changing your shoes. I mean, there are a lot of things that go on when these type of transitions happen and it's a huge decision for everybody: the drivers, the owners and the sponsors.

It's a huge, huge decision and it's time consuming. A lot of it is happening behind the scenes and ultimately when you do get that announcement, it's not like it happened overnight.

It's probably been ongoing for a while and it's just not one thing that's going to have to happen to unleash any tidal wave of announcements.

Jeremy: I don't know. She's right, but there could be one thing that triggers the whole announcement deal -- and I think there's a lot holding up the announcements on everybody's part, right now.

Maybe not a lot -- but when one announcement comes, that will unload a few more.

Shana: Maybe in our situation, but I don't think that's the case in a lot of peoples' situations.

Word Association: The Brickyard

Corn
Jeremy: Kellogg's Corn Pops -- my favorite.
Shana: Corn and rice -- my favorite.

Flat track
Jeremy: Fastest one we'll see.
Shana: The Brickyard.

Midwest
Jeremy: My old Kentucky home. Daniel Boone.
Shana: Hot.