The Mayfields: Gambling to make it there on time

Jeremy got back behind the wheel last weekend in the Craftsman Truck Series, in an odd match of one of Toyota's 2007 factory Nextel Cup drivers wheeling a truck that's supported by Chevrolet; while Shana took advantage of the Mayfields' first vacation of 2006 to do some shopping, Las Vegas style.

The Mayfields also weighed in on the status of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, particularly Jeff Burton's popular win at Dover.

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

This week: Trucking to a big payoff

Q: Jeremy, you got to race at the "new" Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and even though the lead-lap finish wasn't all you wanted, what did you guys think of the experience -- and how much are you looking forward to getting back there with Nextel Cup cars next spring?

Jeremy: Well, I think, first of all, the track has got a lot of potential to be really, really good. The new pavement was good and the banking was great. We'll be able to race good on it when the Cup cars go back.

The only bad thing about it was, you've got a brand new racetrack and it's just been paved and yet you've got bumps in Turns 1 and 2 that were just unbelievable.

It amazes me and I know it does all the other drivers that were out there, and the owners and everything else; but how do you pave a new track that could be so great -- it could be awesome -- and then put a bunch of bumps in Turns 1 and 2?

I just don't understand it. Everything else on that track was as smooth as silk, but then you get into 1 and 2 and you can't even drive it, it was so rough.

Shana: If you close your eyes, it looks just like Texas.

Jeremy: Right, and I think it's got a ton of potential, once they get it fixed. It will be a great place to race.

Shana: And then the infield, of course, is not finished. They were still constructing the new garages so when you walked into the infield it was completely torn up.

Jeremy: It looks just like the desert.

Shana: It looks just really desolate -- really different. But the racetrack really looks a lot like Texas.

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: There were a couple garage buildings that were already built, and a couple others that were being built -- but there again, you build this huge, three-story media center right dead center in the middle of the infield.

Shana: You media guys will really love that.

Jeremy: And then you build these garage areas that the cars will barely go in the garage doors. You know what I mean? But I'm not criticizing 'em, because that's part of it.

But I just wish somebody would, one day when they re-do a racetrack, get some input from the drivers and owners and crew chiefs that have to work in it.

The trucks fit, but it was barely enough room to work on 'em. And when that garage gets full of Cup cars, which maybe the Cup garage wasn't done yet and we were just in the old Busch garage -- but it was still just as tight as you could ever imagine being in any garage.

Shana: It wasn't done yet.

Jeremy: Martinsville has got bigger garage stalls than we had at Las Vegas. But I guess we may have been in the old garages.

Shana: You were. The new ones did look kinda big, but they were still under construction.

Jeremy: I just hope they're a lot bigger.

Q: What were the bumps in the racetrack all about? Were they washboards or ripples?

Jeremy: It was like what you'd have on a motocross track -- what would you call those, when you put about 30 of 'em together, whoop-de-doos?

I mean, they were huge bumps, and we tore the racetrack up, from everybody bottoming out. When the Cup cars get there, if they don't fix that, it's going to be big, because it was so rough.

I don't think I've ever been to a rougher racetrack. Ever -- at least not a racetrack that was asphalt. Coming off of 2 wasn't as bad as 1 was -- but going into Turn 1 was unbelievable.

It upset the truck a bunch, and you just were bottoming out and tearing your stuff up. That was a problem that we fought all weekend, was bottoming the cross-member out and all that stuff.

Then, you'd put stiffer springs in and it would drive worse. We just couldn't find the right balance. But I'm sure we put a lot of big trenches in the racetrack.

	The Truck Series got the first taste of the newly paved Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Credit: Ronda Greer/NASCAR
	Smith's Las Vegas 350 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Mike Skinner Toyota 2. Ted Musgrave Toyota 3. Mike Bliss Chevy 4. Johnny Benson Toyota 5. Ron Hornaday Chevy 23. Jeremy Mayfield Chevy • Complete results, click here

Charlotte was smoother than this when they repaved it, but Charlotte was rough before they repaved it. I can't really compare it to anything because I've never been on anything as rough.

For the short time they've had to do anything on it, I'm sure they're going to have to go back and repave it -- they're going to have to. They'll at least have to do something in 1 and 2, for sure.

And God, I hope they don't grind it. I've never understood how you can have a paving company come and pave a perfect racetrack and then it's so rough that you have to grind it. They might as well have ground what they had.

But other than that, it was good and there's a lot of potential there if they do it right. In terms of grooves, it was about what I expected. The second groove was really coming in and I'm sure it'll be in for the Cup race.

All that was good and I think it'll be great for that. If they get the bumps out of it and get the infield finished, that will be a great place to race.

Q: So overall, how did downtown Las Vegas treat you?

Jeremy: Up until Monday afternoon it wasn't doing me too good. I contributed a lot to all the light bills and whatnot around the casino territory there along the strip.

But the last 30 minutes I come back strong and did pretty good.

Shana: I did pretty good, too -- a little too good for Jeremy's liking, but the way I looked at it was that it was probably our one and only vacation for this year, so I took advantage of it.

Jeremy: I didn't know that vacations were to just go shopping?

Shana: But in Vegas, that's what it consists of -- you're either shopping or gambling.

Jeremy: If that were the case, we'd go to the mall every week and always be on vacation.

Shana: But Vegas has got great shopping, so yeah, I did pretty well. It was nice.

Jeremy: If we'd had our plane out there, we just about would have had to tow a trailer behind it. It cost us $80 more to get all her luggage on.

Shana: We were running late and we had to go to Macy's to get an extra suitcase, because all my stuff wouldn't fit in the suitcase I had.

Like the Mayfields, Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan checked out The Strip, too ... in his truck. Credit: David Vaughan/NASCAR

So it was hell because we flew commercial out there and Lord, when we got there, McCarran [International Airport] had power outages and they had half the security personnel off the line because they were letting liquids back on on Tuesday and they were re-training them in what could go on.

So we got there, and we're running late for everything all the time and we were lucky some people let us cut in line to make it on time. Our plane left at 4 and we got on it at about 3:57.

It was like the amazing race because we were hauling butt through the airport with our shoes off, holding everything that we had to take off going through security, running like crazy. It was so funny.

Jeremy: We barely made it. Thirty seconds more and they would have shut the door.

Shana: We barely made it to the plane out of Charlotte and we barely made it to the plane coming back home. The experience was nothing but a blur -- I don't remember much of it.

Jeremy: I sat on the plane going, 'Wow, what just happened?'

Shana: And I was hoping to get to the airport early to get some magazines and grab something to eat -- but no. We hardly got there in time to get on the plane.

Jeremy: We were lucky to get on the plane, never mind stopping to get a magazine and something to drink.

Shana: It wasn't the last plane, but we wanted to get home.

Jeremy: It was, unless you wanted to fly a red eye.

Shana: Plus, we had to drop off our rental car and ride a bus 20 minutes to the airport. The driver wanted to whip my butt and Jeremy's.

Jeremy: I was getting ready to thump him up the side of his head.

Shana: He was trying to help me with my bag and I told him I had it, because we were running late. It was just a mess.

But we had fun and Jeremy won big right before we left, so he was in a good mood all the way home.

Jeremy: I didn't just break even, I came out way ahead -- I did good. I did enough to finish painting the fence out here and a bunch of other stuff. I got me a little sponsor out there called the Wynn.

Q: While you were vacationing in Vegas, Jeff Burton was loving life in Dover. And considering how the racetrack was in Vegas, did you wish you were in Dover, of all places?

Jeff Burton won at Dover just before the skies opened up and drenched the track. Credit: Autostock

Dover 400 Unofficial Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Jeff Burton Chevy 2. Carl Edwards Ford 3. Jeff Gordon Chevy 4. Kurt Busch Dodge 5. Greg Biffle Ford 6. Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 7. Bobby Labonte Dodge 8. Clint Bowyer Chevy 9. Denny Hamlin Chevy 10. Matt Kenseth Ford • Complete results, click here • Unofficial standings, click here Victory LaneJeff Burton celebrates in Victory Lane at Dover Final lapsKenseth falls short while Jeff Burton gets the checkered flag Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Jeremy: Well, despite everything that happened in the truck race, I had an awesome time racing with Billy Ballew and Richie Wauters. It was probably one of the most fun races I've been in in a long time.

I hope we'll have some more good things to announce about what we're going to be doing together before too long. I'm pretty sure we'll have a new truck by Atlanta for sure, and I feel like we'll be real competitive with them.

But we did watch the Cup race.

Shana: Yeah, we just lay in bed and watched it. I got real emotional when Jeff won. I can kind of relate to that, looking back at Jeremy and Jeff, going into the 2000 season, they had both run so well and they were both picked to contend for the championship.

And they both kind of went downhill, Jeff at Roush's and Jeremy at Penske's. It's kind of like their careers mirror each other's -- with the rebirth of Jeff's career at RCR and Jeremy went to Evernham's and did well.

I just felt like I could relate to Kim and I cried watching it, and I thought it was just a real cool win for the Burtons because I know how it is when you wait so long for something like that.

Jeremy: I liked it because I watched Jeff go through the same deal over at Roush's, where they basically tried to run him down to nothing, and said [all the problems] were with him -- and it wasn't.

And he came back with Richard Childress, who was a great guy for giving him the opportunity to come over there and race. But Richard has always been that kind of a guy.

To see him come back and basically rebuild his career, well, it was just a huge comeback for Jeff, and I think it's awesome. I knew he was going to do it because he's a great guy -- and he deserves it.

Shana: It was just a matter of time.

Jeremy: I knew Childress was going to get that 31 team where it needs to be, and now he's got it there, so I'm sure Jeff is saying, 'Look at me now,' to anyone that doubted him.

Shana: He's contending for a championship, and that's pretty awesome.

Jeremy: Right. I'm pulling for him -- him and [Kevin] Harvick both.

Shana: I just think it was pretty emotional because I know what that all feels like.

Jeremy: And Jeff Burton is just a great guy. You don't ever see him doing anything stupid or say anything crazy or anything like that. If he was starting to doubt himself at all, that's just part of the deal if you haven't won in a while.

I respect him and I think all of the drivers respect each other.

Shana: I think when you go so long without winning, it's not that you doubt yourself, but you just start playing mind games with yourself, wondering if you can still get it done -- or are people looking at me any different.

Deep down, you know you can but you're thinking, God, it's been a lot of races since I've won. I think it's like Bobby Labonte. People will always respect him -- he's a champion.

He's just one of those people who you look at and you can't say a bad thing about them. They've done nothing but good things and they've been great ambassadors for the sport.

So I think Jeff also has a lot of respect in the garage area.

Jeremy: And I like him.

Word Association: Gone trucking

Pickup
Jeremy: Got a new one coming.
Shana: Tundra.

Jackpot
Jeremy: I did it.
Shana: Thanks to the Wynn.

Washboard
Jeremy: Had enough of 'em.
Shana: Abs.