| By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
October 26, 2006
05:51 PM EDT (21:51 GMT)
This weekend, the Mayfields travel south so Jeremy can race owner Billy Ballew's truck in the backyard of 2007 sponsor 360 OTC. Saturday afternoon's truck race will be over in plenty of time for them to get home to watch the opening episode of the latest NASCAR reality show on ESPN2, NASCAR Drivers Non-Stop, which includes clips with the Mayfields, airing Sunday at 11 p.m. ET. They also reveal that Jeremy will get back in a Nextel Cup car before the end of this season and weigh in on the latest twists in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup, as well as what they would do as owners if their driver was a Chase contender and had a conflicting Busch race on the same weekend as the Chase gets really interesting. This week: Chasing points or the Nextel Cup? Q: In the aftermath of Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500, are you having a gang over to watch the opening of NASCAR Drivers Non-Stop? Shana: No. I don't think we'll make that big a deal out of it. We already saw the pre-editing version of it and gave our feedback on it. We're pretty happy with it, but I don't think we got as much airtime in it as the other two guys, because we weren't racing at the time -- and they wanted to show the lives of racers, and we were just kinda out here on the farm, blowing up things and being crazy. Jeremy: How would that be much different than what we do when we're racing on the weekends? Shana: So for the first one, they pretty much cut us out, but we were pretty happy with it, and we were glad to have the opportunity to do it. I think the second show will be better than the first one. But I think the first episode will be good because it shows the intensity of everything that happened this year, from running badly early in the year to Jeremy's getting released by Evernham Motorsports and how we dealt with it. I think it's pretty good because you got to see a side of Jeremy and I both that I don't think anybody's ever really seen before. Jeremy: It's going to be pretty cool, but Shana's right -- it would have been better if we were racing. But that's the thing about reality shows. People see the racing part all the time -- and they know what that's all about. They want to see what really happens away from the track and that we're real people -- and that's what they're going to see with this one, how Shana and I are, and our doggies. Q: Blowing stuff up? Jeremy: We didn't really blow stuff up. I had some fireworks left over, you know, some old M80's and things -- nothing like Sterling's half-sticks -- and we had a good time with the camera guys and stuff. They showed more than I really did, actually. They took a bunch of little scenes and clipped them together to make it look like that's all I did. Shana: That's reality, honey. Jeremy: They were just messing with me. But you get to see a stunt that Shana's dad did. Shana: Don't give it away! Jeremy: Well, I'm going to let everybody know he kind of does a Jackass-type stunt. They told him to ride something and he rode it. Shana: Yeah, he's pretty cool. It's fun. That was a really different type of thing -- and as usual, the NASCAR Images guys were really great to work with. Jeremy: It's supposed to be two episodes, but we're hoping it turns into something more. Shana: We're actually talking about doing a full-blown reality show, since we're renovating our house out here at the farm, they were talking about maybe doing something with HGTV or something like that with our big project. So that would be cool, and we've got a few things in the fire that we're working on that may come out of this reality show, so we're excited about it. Q: And the hits just keep on coming. I understand you're going to be running a couple more Cup races this season? Jeremy: I had a few opportunities to do some trucks and Busch cars, and even some Cup races, but I hadn't really wanted to do it because I hadn't been able to get a really good ride besides Billy Ballew's No. 15 truck, which is something that I feel like I can be competitive in. So James Finch, who owns Phoenix Racing, and I have been friends as long as I've been racing. He's always been a guy I can talk to and who I like a lot -- and he feels the same way. I'm going to run the Cup races at Phoenix and Homestead for him in his Miccosukee Dodge. It's the first time I've had a chance to drive for him, and I think it's going to be cool. Shana: And his stuff is always pretty good, too. Jeremy: I'm looking forward to it because he's always got good cars and good stuff and he's a great guy. So I want to do it for him and his team -- and it helps me out, too. I guess they wanted to have Mike Wallace concentrate on the Busch car, which has a good shot to end up in the top 10 in the Busch owner points. Q: Now, tell the truth. The fact that the Miccosukee Tribe operates a casino in South Florida had absolutely nothing to do with your decision to do this deal, did it? Or did it? Shana: Of course not. Jeremy: I tell you what -- I'd like to say 'No,' but it did. I ran into James in Charlotte, or actually at Lowe's Motor Speedway a couple weeks ago. And oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Shana, but he had his Wynn Casino shirt on, which is where we stay out in Las Vegas. So he's a big gambler, I guess. Now, I'm what you would call a peon gambler, I guess, but I like gambling, or playing the slots and all that stuff. So it's going to work out good to support the sponsor like I know I can. I'd like to stay down at the Miccosukee Resort when we go down to Homestead. Shana: Oh, my God. Jeremy: Well, you know, I'd like to stay there so Shana can go to the spa and stuff. Shana: Oh, I'm so sure. We'll be broke, so let's not give him any ideas. Jeremy: I'm not getting any. It's everything I can do to keep from shutting these casinos down, I win so much when I go there. Q: I hate to keep beating up on this, but what a year to be in the Chase. Can you guys believe what happened at Martinsville? Shana: I'm telling you, again, that that's just our luck. I was telling Jeremy before, in the two previous years in which we were in the Chase, the bad luck followed us. Now, I think the bad luck has hit all 10 of those guys, if not once, in some cases twice. I think it's anybody's championship now, seriously. There have just been so many random things happening to so many of the guys. It's been so weird. Jeremy: It is. All season long, you don't see these kinds of things happening, and all of a sudden, the Chase comes up and you see this guy getting in a wreck, this guy blowing up, this guy falling back -- and [Dale Earnhardt] Junior spinning out. Shana: It's pure chaos. Jeremy: It doesn't make any sense. Shana: It's absolute chaos. But it's definitely a good year to be in the Chase, because in my opinion, any of those 10 guys that are in there can win it. Jeremy: And I had been driving every Sunday for so long that I haven't had a chance to watch a lot of races, but now that I've had that chance, it's been unbelievable what I've seen. It seems like all you've got to do is not make any mistakes and you've got a shot to win races and to be in the top five. If you can get with a team that just does not make mistakes, you'll be fine. Shana: Yeah, but some of those teams sometimes might be pushing their stuff a little hard, trying to get that edge. Look at what's happened to [Richard] Childress [Racing] with three of their engines breaking in Chase races. Now's not the time to be trying stuff. Jeremy: And you can't be too conservative on your settings, because then you have to run 'em harder to keep up. Shana: But who's to say you don't get a bad batch of some kind of part. Jeremy: That's why you have good quality control in your systems -- your checks and balances. Shana: I know, but so many random things have been happening to so many people. Jeremy: I know. It's nobody's fault and it's just part of it. But it just doesn't make sense if that was the second race that that happened [RCR cars having valve-spring failures]. That just doesn't make sense, but if I were them, I'd be changing valve springs -- again. Shana: That's pretty scary, if you're in the driver's seat. Jeremy: But I don't know, the 19 car blew up in the second Martinsville race, too -- and he blew up at Charlotte. Shana: I think if Jeremy were in it this year it would be so nerve-wracking. I mean, with all those guys, they are so close that if any little thing happens, it has a big effect -- especially now when you're getting down to the wire. I think the guys with the experience have an edge -- like Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. I'm not necessarily saying it's going to get to the other guys, because some of what's happened has been mechanical -- but I think you're going to see Jimmie and Matt and hopefully Mark Martin come on because they know what to do and they know how to get things done. I think Jimmie's going to be strong because he's got some good tracks coming up. Jeremy: Kasey [Kahne] has got some great tracks coming up, too -- so they've just not got to let the pressure get to them, and they'll have a shot. It'll be a classic, that's for sure. Shana: If I had to tell Kasey anything, it would be to be happy you're not in the 19 or the 10 [Evernham team cars] -- because they've been doing nothing but blowing up the last couple weeks. But I think it's between the top five guys. I think it could be anybody's, but I think the top five have the most legitimate shot at it. Jeremy: I'm pulling for several of them. I can't really say one -- I'm pulling for a lot of them, more than some of the others. Q: As many as eight guys have tried to run virtually the entire Cup and Busch Series schedules, so with this weekend being one of the toughest deals, schedule-wise, and having so much riding in the Chase, if you were owners, what would you do with your Cup driver chasing the Nextel Cup, who's also in a Busch car? Jeremy: If I was the owner, I think I'd give him the option, and then I'd overrule him, and tell him he wasn't going Busch racing. I think all those guys -- Kevin [Harvick] and all of them -- know they'll be better off on Sunday getting a good night's rest and concentrating on their Cup car instead of hauling off to run a Busch race that doesn't really mean that much in the big picture.  | 
 | SATURDAY'S TIGHT SCHEDULE | Three Chase drivers will be traveling between Atlanta's Cup practices and the Memphis Busch race on Saturday.
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They've just got to be mature enough to do the right thing, make that decision and give up the seat and let somebody else drive it. I'll drive it for them -- no, wait a minute -- I already have a race to run. Sorry. Shana: That's the tough part of it, is that they're all racers and they just want to race -- and they've been doing it all season that way, so the flying back and forth isn't that big of a deal. Jeremy: I can see that side of it. Shana: But there again, you're down to four races to go and 99 points between first and 10th [in the Chase]. God forbid there would be bad weather that would keep you on the ground and you don't get back until late. You've got to look at all the logistics and what you've got to gain. And you might get in a crash, because things happen and you don't want to take those chances at this point in the Chase. Jeremy: It would be hell to get in a wreck and not even remember how you got back to Atlanta -- or that you had a race to run on Sunday -- or where you were Saturday. But we can ramble on about it forever. Everybody's got their own way of doing things and of looking at things, and as a driver, I can see it both ways. Shana: I can totally see it both ways, but all I'm saying is, right now you've got to be careful and not take any chances. Word Association: Gone trucking (Part II)
Risk
Jeremy: Gotta take it.
Shana: Is it worth it? Reward
Jeremy: Burton -- he's baaack.
Shana: Gratifying. Hot-lanta
Jeremy: 360 OTC-land.
Shana: Cold in November. | 
