Conversation: Mayfield

FONTANA, Calif. -- Jeremy Mayfield on Friday climbed from his lime-green and black Toyota on pit road at California Speedway, knowing in his heart that he probably wouldn't be racing on Sunday. It was a sinking feeling that he was experiencing for the second time in two weeks. The only thing left to do was to head back to his bus, wait for the inevitable DNQ, and head home.

Along the way, he stopped to sign autographs along both sides of the walkway that divides the garage from pit road, and left only when everyone had stopped asking. Mayfield might just be a nice guy, or he simply could have been stalling, knowing his time at the track this particular weekend was numbered. Most likely, it was a combination of both.

Mayfield has failed to qualify for the first two races in 2007 with his new team at Bill Davis Racing, which entered the year without any owners' points, forcing the No. 36 to qualify on speed for the first five races. He missed Daytona after Sterling Marlin faded in the closing laps of a Daytona 150-mile qualifier. Marlin's swoon gave a spot in the field to his teammate Joe Nemechek -- and knocked out Mayfield.

It was the latest sting during a difficult two-season stretch for Mayfield, who was fired from Evernham Motorsports after the Brickyard 400 last year. Mayfield later was accused of intentionally wrecking at Indianapolis, a charge Mayfield vehemently denied. The split was the ugliest the sport had seen in years.

Mayfield, 37, on Friday talked with NASCAR.COM at California Speedway:

Q: Jeremy, what was it like last week when Sterling appeared to let off in the last lap and knocked you out of the Daytona 500?

Mayfield: It pretty much sucked. Depending on whether he did that or not [determined] whether we made the race. That doesn't make sense. But, we held our heads high pretty good and walked out of there pretty good. We took it like a man, and we came here this week with our heads high, and that is all you can do, you know? But it is a shame you qualify 15th for the Daytona 500 and you don't make it.

Q: Where did you watch the Daytona 500? Did you even watch it?

Mayfield: No, I didn't even watch it.

Q: What did you do all day?

Mayfield: I worked outside on my bulldozer, outside digging ditches and stuff like that. I have better things to do than watch that. And that is pretty much what I did. I couldn't handle it, you know, the fact that we are better than that.

Q: Did you even care who won?

Mayfield: No, to be honest with you. I wish [Mark] Martin would have won.

Q: How bad did the DNQ hurt considering you guys had a very good restrictor-plate car?

Mayfield: We just didn't have enough laps. There were three laps of caution, three laps of caution [during the 150-mile qualifier] ... we should have stayed out or we could have done a lot of things different looking back, we just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities that were available to us.

Q: Does qualifying worry you on days like Friday? It looked like you had to drive the car extremely hard in hopes of squeezing into the field. On the second lap, are you thinking, "I have to drive even harder?"

Mayfield: Oh yeah, and that is why everyone slows down, and I did too. You push up a little bit. But here is the deal: It is a fine line of what you can and can't do. This is a decision I chose to do. I chose to come to this team knowing it was going to be a start-up team, knowing it was going to be tough at the beginning of the year, nothing was going to be easy, and that's just is the way I am looking at it. I am going to have to fight through it and keep digging and like you said, if you make any mistakes, you're going home, so it is a fine line between how hard do you run, and how hard do you not.

Q: After the first practice, it was obvious the car wasn't very fast, and you met with your crew chief [Derrick Finley] and team owner. What do you guys talk about during those meetings when you know you're in a hole for qualifying?

Mayfield: We don't really talk that much, we just try to make it better, better, better, and that is it. We all know what we are up against, we all know how much we need to make these races and how important it is, so that is all you can do. Do the best you can; nobody really puts more pressure on you than the other guy. I know [Friday] we didn't roll off the truck like we needed to, we probably were not as good as we needed to be, so I say the next week we need to be a little bit better prepared.

Q: You lost a lot of practice as the car was going through tech. Is that half-hour you lost, is that life or death?

Mayfield: It was like 45 minutes to an hour. That is what we give up, we spotted all these teams that much practice time. You never really can rebound from that, especially if you're struggling a little bit, if you're not that fast to begin with. It is tough, but you can't spot these guys any practice time whatsoever. You'll be in trouble.

Q: The way NASCAR does inspection, where the teams lower in the points go last, is that fair?

Mayfield: It is not fair at all. What is the answer? I don't know, but I know it is not fair.

Q: One of the things I wanted to ask you last week -- and didn't get a chance to -- is the fuel issue with Michael Waltrip. You had a similar experience in 2001 when you were driving for a team owned by Roger Penske and Michael Kranefuss. Was that anything similar to what happened to Waltrip at Daytona?

Mayfield: I guess. I don't know. I remember a little bit, and I know how tough it is to go through that. You have to wait, wait, wait it out. It was the same situation; no one knew how it got in there. Same situation pretty much.

Q: How bad did that hurt the team in the long run?

Mayfield: Looking back, it was all about the two owners; they didn't get along anyway. That was the beginning of the end after that. That was another situation were you have a good ride and two owners don't get along and you get caught in that deal.

Q: Is it surprising that NASCAR keeps escalating the penalties?

Mayfield: Well, they say they are getting higher and higher, but I got docked 151 points and $75,000 -- 151 points? I haven't seen anyone docked 151 points.

Q: Which is rougher -- DNQing for a race or the deal last year, where you were removed from Evernham's Dodge before Watkins Glen?

Mayfield: Last year was a relief for me, so I would say not making one of these races is a lot worse. I missed all 15 races last year and it didn't bother me nothing like it did at the Daytona 500. It was a relief for me to get out of that deal over there. You don't want to miss any of them, but that Watkins Glen deal, I knew that was coming, so that really didn't bother me none. No one really knows the whole story on that deal. It will all come out one day.