| By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
November 2, 2006
12:26 PM EST (17:26 GMT)
One week after a stray brake rotor pierced the radiator of his Billy Ballew Motorsports truck, ending Jeremy's day at Atlanta, the Mayfields are wrapped up in a "yard sale" on e-Bay to divest themselves of all their new and used Evernham Motorsports apparel and paraphernalia. They're also trying to figure out what ex-teammate Kasey Kahne was thinking when he put David Stremme in the wall and also NASCAR's caution policy in the wake of Robby Gordon's penalties for intentionally causing a caution. This week: Caution: Yard sale ahead Q: Guys, in light of Robby Gordon being convicted of dropping roll bar padding out of his car to cause a caution, what's the most ridiculous excuse for a caution you've ever seen -- or not seen? Shana: What's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen? Well, this one didn't cause a caution, but it happened under caution. It was the time that guy ran across the racetrack at Pocono in front of Jeremy, with his pants down. Jeremy: Naked. Shana: That didn't cause a caution but it could have caused another caution under a caution because Jeremy came on the radio and said, 'Oh my God, I just saw this guy's ass running across the racetrack.' Jeremy: It was under caution but it should have been under the cover of darkness. He was getting ready to get him a free trip to the hospital, by air. Shana: So that was pretty crazy. But usually, I guess you just see the normal things, like water bottles getting thrown out -- though they usually don't throw cautions for those. Jeremy: The funniest thing I've ever seen is when there isn't anything on the track that you'd think would have caused a caution, and we get one. Shana: Oh yeah -- the mystery cautions are the best. Jeremy: And I've seen it, too, where there is something out there and yet you don't get a caution. Let's face it; it's a tough thing to call, sometimes. Shana: Having oil on the racetrack's the worst one I've seen where they didn't throw a caution. You'll be sitting on the pit box and someone's blowing up and you'll be, 'Oh my God they've got to throw a caution,' and they never do. And the next thing you know, two or three cars get in a wreck. Jeremy: But it's hard to see sometimes, and it's definitely hard to know who's telling the truth when people are coming on the radio and saying there's oil or trash or whatever on the track -- because they might just want a caution. Shana: Some guys are complaining because they want fresh tires or they want to pit -- so I wouldn't want to be in NASCAR's shoes and have to decide when to throw one or when not to. If you scan the control tower, they go through a pretty big analysis before the put one out. Jeremy: Yeah, but when a guy throws his glove out and you think it's a piece of metal and have to throw a caution, that's when it gets big. Shana: But from up in the tower, they probably can't tell and they've got to err on the side of caution -- by throwing a caution. Q: So in Robby's case, did the punishment -- $15,000 fine for him, $10,000 fine for his crew chief and 50 driver and owner points -- fit the crime? Jeremy: That's pretty stout, but I figured it was going to come down, sooner or later. Shana: I think they're just trying to make an example out of him. It sucks that it had to be him, but they had to make a point to all the other drivers out there, that you can't be doing that kind of thing. Jeremy: There again, I'm no saint so I'm not going to comment a whole lot on it, but that's pretty ballsy to do that, during the Chase like that, what he did. You know Jeff Burton's not too happy about it. Shana: Well, he was going to be the Lucky Dog and get a lap back. Jeremy: I know, but that's when you don't do it. Shana: But what got him was the replay and having it on tape. It was pretty black and white. Jeremy: It was bad timing -- but that's just the way it is and you have to know that. There isn't too much that's a secret these days. Shana: They just had to set an example. Jeremy: In the end, he still got a top-10 out of it. He beat the bank. Shana: He still got a top-10, but he's trying to get back in the top 20 in points and in the long run this is going to cost him more. He's still going to have that hanging over his head.  |  | MESSAGE BOARD | |
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Jeremy: It's a hard call. It's almost like in football or basketball, when a guy takes a dive, there's no contact and you get a penalty or a foul. That's just part of it. I know that throwing something out the window is not the same as that, but it sort of is. Look, when you're calling balls and strikes at a baseball game, you've got the crowd hollering, but when they're officiating a NASCAR race they're hooked to all the teams' radios and they're yipping and hollering about everything -- so it's hard to tell who's telling the truth and who's got the most to gain by getting a call. They've got to depend on their official spotters around the racetrack to tell them if there is something out there. And it's hard to see what something is sometimes, too. Shana: And if turned out to be metal and caused a flat tire or went through a radiator and blew somebody up, you wonder why there wasn't a caution for the debris on the track, so it's a fine line. Jeremy: I'd say most of the time they're really good about getting the cautions out when they need to -- and when there is a caution they do a great job of getting the track picked up, I feel like. There are times when there's a lot of stuff that falls on the racetrack and for the most part they get most of it up. Q: You finally had a chance to put together four and a half years worth of Evernham Motorsports stuff that was on your coach and at your house. I understand you're gonna have one heckuva yard sale on e-Bay for charity? |
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Jeremy: We've actually been clearing it out for a while, because we had a ton of stuff we needed to get out of there, but I've got a bunch of my old Evernham stuff. Shana: Shirts, jackets, polo shirts and hats. Jeremy: Toilet paper. Shana: No, but there was a ton of stuff I brought home today. Jeremy: All of the stuff that we've gathered over the last four or five years -- pretty much everything we've got right now has got Evernham all over it. Shana: So we're going to get Jeremy to autograph it all and put it on e-Bay and sell it, so we can make some money to donate to charity. So everybody be looking for it because we'll probably get it on there by the beginning of next week. Jeremy: A lot of the stuff is worn, but a lot of it isn't -- and some of it I wouldn't wear. We want to give as many fans as possible a chance to have something if they want it. Shana: And we're going to give the money to charity -- so it will be a good deal. Jeremy: We'll probably give some to the Pug Rescue League and the Bulldog Rescue and the battered woman's shelter and breast cancer research -- and of course the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Shana: Whatever we can do to help, we want to do that. Jeremy: We're not sure if there will be a uniform in there or not, but we've definitely got some uniform jackets. We'll see how it goes. If we start getting a lot of excitement built up with it, we'll do that -- put a uniform on there. Q: Have you had much chance to think about what Kasey Kahne, your ex-teammate, did at Atlanta, when his spotter told him David Stremme was outside him but he moved up anyway and wrecked them both? Jeremy: You have to look at it from Stremme's point of view, and Kasey's point of view. If I'm Stremme, and I've been racing a guy -- all year long, probably -- and I'm going down into the corner and all of a sudden he just turns into you, the first thing I'm going to think is something broke on his car or he got loose. OK, he took me out, but some kind of good excuse ought to be there, you know what I mean? But for Kasey to have the point of view that he just forgot he was there? That doesn't make sense and it sounds like something isn't right, there. But there again, knowing the situation there, something could have broken. Who knows? It might not have been Kasey's fault and he's just taking the blame. I don't know -- it's hard for me to believe that he just forgot that he was there, outside of him. Most racers, I don't think they'd forget who was around them. Shana: I doubt that he would have said he forgot if something broke. Jeremy: I know, but it's kind of weird that he got on TV and said, 'Aw, I just forgot he was out there.' We've raced a lot, and I don't ever remember forgetting that somebody was outside of me. Shana: And that sucks because it's all going to be on his shoulders, that that is probably going to be the Chase's losing moment for them, right there. They had bounced back pretty good from what happened to them at Dover and Kansas. They'd had some good runs, particularly winning at Charlotte. Jeremy: They'll probably run good at Texas this weekend, too. Unless he forgets where it is. Q: And to add insult to injury, after they go back to the garage, David comes over and starts badgering Kasey about it, gets him flustered and they have a little spat in the garage. Shana: Well, look at it from Stremme's perspective. He was having a great run and he didn't do anything wrong and he gets wrecked. Jeremy: And he needed that good run, considering where they are in the points and what they have on the line, staying in the top 35 [in owner points]. Shana: And the last person you'd expect that out of is a Chaser -- somebody who has the most wins in the series, no less. You don't expect someone of his caliber of driver to do that -- and to just say 'I forgot' -- and wreck you. Jeremy: That's why I was saying, it seems there has to be something more to that than just that 'I forgot.' I wouldn't be too thrilled if I'd been racing someone all year and then all of a sudden he said, 'Forgot you were out there, sorry.' Shana: I'd say bull -- I want a better excuse than that. Jeremy: I'd be waiting for you to get out of that car so I could rip your danged head off -- and tell you your short-term memory is about gone then, buddy, isn't it? Word Association: The Texas Twist
Terry
Jeremy: Respect for The Iceman.
Shana: Texas Terry will definitely be missed. B.P.
Jeremy: Great to see his recovery.
Shana: Miraculous. Glad he's back. Brain fade
Jeremy: I forgot what you said.
Shana: Will cost you a title. | 
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