The Mayfields: Some advice for the Chasers

On this weekend, for the past two years, the Mayfields have been in the middle of all the drama, tension and anticipation of the cutoff race prior to the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- and twice they've tasted success.

In 2006, on the eve of the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the Mayfields play the role of spectators as the same team that carried Jeremy into the Chase in 2004 -- when he won at Richmond -- and again in 2005 tries to make the Chase with Kasey Kahne.

This week: At the cutoff

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

Q: After a couple weeks of anticipation, you finally know you'll make a Craftsman Truck Series start at Atlanta at the end of October, in Billy Ballew Motorsports' No. 15 that's won this season with Kyle Busch -- so how does that feel?

Jeremy: I really can't wait. I'm pretty excited about it. I always said that if I couldn't get into one of Bill Davis' Toyotas this year, the next truck I'd want to get in would be the 15.

It's funny how it all happened. Billy and a good friend of ours, Buddy Barnes -- who works on Billy's trucks -- came out to the house last weekend for a little expedition we had going on.

I had never met Billy, but we got talking and he asked me if I wanted to drive his No. 15 truck at Atlanta. I said, 'Heck yeah -- let's do it.'

Shana: Billy is just a super-nice guy. He's really down to earth and seemed like a really cool guy.

Hopefully we can build a good friendship with him and maybe Jeremy can do a couple more races with him this season. Who knows? He was just a genuine guy so it was cool to meet him.

Jeremy: He's got a great guy over there that's his crew chief, Richie Wauters. I'll tell you what, they are hard core racers and that's what I like about that team.

That's why I said, if I couldn't drive a truck for Bill [Davis] I'd want to drive one of Billy's because every time I see them on pit road, they've been nothing but racers going racing.

Shana: And that's what it's all about and that's what we're here to do -- race. We're not here to politic or to be superstars -- even though you turn into one sometimes.

We're here to race and that's what Jeremy's always wanted to do. To have an opportunity to get back to the racetrack and to have a real shot at winning because you're with a good group of racers is a cool opportunity and a good feeling.

Jeremy didn't want to just jump into anything, so this is a really great opportunity.

Jeremy: It is really cool and I'm real excited about it, because like Shana said, Billy is just a really nice guy and he just wants to run good. His whole deal has been perfect because it's built around racers, from what I've heard and seen with my own eyes.

Shana: And his track record just speaks for itself.

Jeremy: Oh, definitely.

Shana: He flies under the radar, but you know when he shows up at the racetrack, he's going to be competitive and one of the trucks to beat.

Jeremy: We talked a little bit about doing some more races, and I'm going to try to get over there later this week to get the seat straightened out, and maybe we'll talk about it then.

I just can't wait because it's going to be fun doing it.

Q: After two years of eating, drinking and breathing the Chase -- and the cutoff -- during this week, what's the feeling for you guys this year and will you be in Richmond?

Jeremy: We might go up there just to poke around a little bit and see what's going on. We haven't quite figured that out yet.

Shana: For me, it's pretty somber. It would be different if we were still racing and had just gotten beat, and we didn't make the Chase because of that.

But to not really have a chance right from the Daytona 500 kind of gets you a little sour and a little upset about it.

It's over now and we just have to move on, but it's hard for me because I know what it's meant to Jeremy. The first year he did what he had to do -- went out, led the most laps and won the race -- and it all fell in our hands.

Last year, he was pretty much a shoo-in going into this race, so to have been in it both years it's been held, I think, is a great accomplishment. So to not even have a shot at it this year is really unfortunate -- and especially for a driver of his caliber to be sitting on the sidelines.

It's kind of hard for me and it's a somber feeling for sure.

Jeremy: I kind of feel the same way. I just don't feel like it's fair, you know what I mean?

Shana: It's not, and it wasn't.

Jeremy Mayfield has five victories in 14 years of Nextel Cup racing. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Jeremy Mayfield's 2006 stats 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 Indy 15 41 suspension Average 23.9 27.9

Jeremy: But there wasn't anything I could do, and I'm probably going to be a little bit weird this weekend because of that -- but it's been leading up to that.

It's pretty bad when you make [the Chase] two years in a row and don't even get a fair shot at it the third year. And that's what really hurt me, because I wanted to make it three for three -- to just be in it every year until I retired.

Now I'm not going to get that chance, so I'm going to have to work harder next year and definitely be in it again, I know that.

But I'll tell you one thing it's done for me: Whenever negative things have happened along the way, I look at it and figure out how I can be a better person after that or a better racecar driver and just better my career.

And I think that's what this is going to do for me. I'm using every bit of the negative side -- the bad part of it -- to turn it into one burning fire inside of me for next year to do whatever we have to do.

Shana: And we've made that first step by aligning ourselves with an organization that we feel like is a better fit for us, with Bill Davis and a bunch of people that are there to race.

Bill flies under the radar and I think it's his time. Jeremy's going to be able to go up there and contribute a lot. He'll make it known that Bill's got everything he needs to win races and that he can compete.

That gives you something to look forward to, and hopefully next year with Toyota coming in we'll be able to get Toyota in the Chase for the first time. So there are a lot of positives to look forward to, like Jeremy said.

So what do you do? We'll just sit home and watch the race and see what happens.

Q: On the personal side, and setting the hurt feelings aside, Kenny Francis went through a lot with you over the last three years, so if you can't be in the Chase for a third consecutive year, what does it mean to you guys if Kenny can do it three consecutive years, with the team that was yours up until this season?

Jeremy: I'm real happy for Kenny and all those guys on the 9 team. Those guys deserve it -- they're a great team and that's where they need to be.

You know, I'm still good friends with about 80 percent of the people up [at Evernham Motorsports]. And for all that 80 percent, I am totally happy for them -- I mean that.

And for Kenny, he's one of the 80 percent, and I feel like he deserves it. He's a smart guy and [in the Chase] is where he needs to be. So I'm real happy for Kenny and those guys, but I wish I could have been there. But I'm not, so life goes on.

Shana: I feel a lot of the same as Jeremy, too. Kenny's definitely a hard worker and he's a great asset to any team [so] he definitely deserves to be there.

We still have a lot of people [from EMS] that come out and visit us at the farm, and we're still friends with a lot of them.

But at the same time, you still have the ones up there on the friendship side that you thought would at least call and check on you and see how you're doing. And they haven't done that, so for me personally, it's hard for me to be [too excited].

Ninety percent of the guys on the 9 team I think are great guys and they deserve to be where they're at. They're obviously a great race team and they got us [in the Chase] two years and they're probably going to be there three years.

Jeremy: Now see, that doesn't bother me, Shana, as much as it bothers you.

Shana: It does, because I thought people, personally, had a different relationship and I found out they didn't.

Jeremy: You know your true friends are your true friends and the ones that are not [you don't worry about].

Shana: But Kenny Francis and those guys are personally a great group of guys and he's always offered Jeremy his friendship as well as having a great professional relationship.

So I think that, as a group, that they should get [in the Chase].

Q: You've been put in the position of being an adviser to the guys currently in the Chase and what's now become one guy -- your former teammate racing with basically your team of the past two seasons, trying to get in -- so what advice would you give Kasey?

Jeremy: I think him and the team have got enough experience and he's smart enough to know what he's got to do. He knows going into that race that he can't leave anything on the table and he's got to go all-out.

It'd be hard for me to give him any advice. The team itself, they know what to do, and as far as Kasey goes, he showed last Sunday night at California that he knows what's going on under pressure.

MAYFIELD TO BDR Jeremy Mayfield announced two weeks ago that he will drive the No. 36 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing next season.  •   Complete story, click here

So he'll be fine and I think they're going to be in good shape. If I were to give them any advice it would be to ...

Shana: They just have to race their own race and not worry about anyone else.

Jeremy: Right. And don't listen to any of the talk or all the mind games going on.

Shana: There's going to be a lot of them going on Saturday night. There's going to be a lot of [trash] talking this week.

Jeremy: They've just got to be calm and take everything as it comes -- and don't change anything you're doing. Do everything like you've been doing.

Eat the same, drink the same and go to sleep when you have been. Everything needs to be consistent.

Shana: It's just another race and you can't get yourself so worked up about it that it overwhelms you. And the other thing, too, that you've got to remember is that these other 10 guys are going to bring the best of the best, too.

Like Jeremy said, you can't make any mistakes, you can't leave anything on the table, you can't have a bad pit stop, you can't have a speeding penalty -- you've got to run a perfect race when it calls for a perfect race.

[Kasey] ran one Sunday night. He had that one speeding penalty, but he had a good enough car that he could recover but this weekend at Richmond, with some hard-core, short-track racing, everyone's going to bring their best so you've really got to be careful not to make mistakes and to have a perfect race, call a perfect race and everything.

Jeremy: And you know, that's the same group of guys [crewing Kahne's car] that went to the Chase two years in a row. They're the same ones that are going to go again.

That tells you that that's a tight little group right there and if you're going to say 'Evernham Motorsports is succeeding,' you've really got to say Kenny Francis and his guys.

They're the ones that need the credit because they're the ones that have been there. Like I say, there are 15 or 20 of them that work on the 9 -- that's basically the foundation of that race team.

Q: What do you say to the other seven -- other than Kevin Harvick who's virtually locked in? Would you rather be defending or attacking this weekend at Richmond, because you've experienced it from both sides, right?

Shana: I'd rather be chasing.

Jeremy: But not really, though, because here's what it is. Going into the race Saturday night you'd love to be in the top 10, but then once you're in the top 10 you're a defender, because you've got to defend what you've got.

If you go into it in 11th, there's a lot more pressure being 11th than there is if you've already got points on the guy. They've got everything to lose -- you don't, you know what I mean?

They've got more to make up on you than you have to give up to them -- pretty much, if you're fifth, sixth or seventh. But it's so close, you've got to protect what you've got, but you've still got to race pretty hard.

What those guys have got to realize, all the way up to 11th place, is that all those guys are locked into going to New York [for the awards ceremony] -- all but one guy -- and the 11th-place guy is going, maybe.

So they're all going to switch positions and a lot of stuff's going to happen but it's not really going to be that big or dramatic of a deal -- at least not as much as everybody thinks it's going to be.

There's going to be one loser, pretty much.

Shana: I don't know about that.

Jeremy: That's all there can be.

Shana: No, because 12th and 13th could make up whatever amount of points they're behind and catch whoever is 11th after Richmond.

Jeremy: But not Saturday night, though. There is only one loser Saturday night.

Shana: Well, there is not going to be 11 people who know they're going to New York Saturday night -- there's going to be 10.

Jeremy: Right. So one loser goes home Saturday night.

Shana: But you're saying the entire top 11 is going to New York, and they might not.

Jeremy: I said they probably would -- maybe not 11th -- but there will only be one loser Saturday night. And it's not going to be that dramatic.

Shana: But just think. You could go into Richmond fourth in points and leave 11th -- that's dramatic if you ask me.

Jeremy: Well then, you don't need to be [in the Chase], because you screwed up that bad.

So I guess you'll take it like a man, go home and say, 'We don't deserve to be there.'

Shana: I don't know, but I'd still rather be the chaser, because when we were going into Richmond the first year we didn't have anything to lose, and that was great when we won.

If I was a driver, and I'm not so maybe I don't have the expertise to be talking about this, I'd rather be in Kasey's shoes than to be fourth through 10th.

Jeremy: Well, everybody's got their own opinion, so whatever.

But the big thing that everybody needs to look at is that if Kasey doesn't get in, there are no Dodges in there -- and that's going to be big. So he's got a lot of pressure on him.

Shana: And with the most wins in the series, that's a lot of pressure in and of itself. He should automatically be in.

Jeremy: There again, that shows consistency. Do you have it, or don't you?

Q: Who is most likely to get into a disagreement, either during the race or after it -- and will it be a driver, crew person or significant other?

Shana: I guess it's going to depend on the top 10.

Jeremy: And I don't really see anyone there who would, maybe.

Shana: For $6 million you're bound to see a [butt]-whipping if somebody gets taken out, I would think.

Jeremy: But if somebody took Tony [Stewart] out early for some stupid reason, that would be big, wouldn't it?

I think Stewart's most likely to kick some [butt] if somebody takes him out or causes him to miss the Chase. He might not whip some [butt], but he might show his.

And Mark would be hot, too.

Word Association: Cuttin' 'em off at Richmond

Cutoff
Jeremy: No problem.
Shana: Nerve-wracking.

Locked-out
Jeremy: Slim Jim. No pressure
Shana: Need your keys. Disappointed.

Chasing
Jeremy: Ray.
Shana: The championship.