Mayfield secures sponsor to boost his start-up team (cont'd)

All Sport ran a test program in a limited number of 2008 events as a primary sponsor for Yates Racing and apparently liked the experience. Mayfield said he also was close to signing a couple of associate sponsors.

"All Sport has been a key partner in many auto-racing sponsorships in the past," Smith said, "and as a result, our plan is to capture the thrill of racing through in-store programs designed to get consumers excited about our connection to motorsports."

Mayfield purchased five former Bill Davis Racing cars from Triad Racing Technologies, as well as what he said was their newest tractor and trailer. He said Triad would supply his team's engines.

Mayfield immediately connected with one of his first crew chiefs in Cup racing, former Hendrick Motorsports pit boss Tony Furr; hired former Roush Racing car chief Steve McCain; and is housed in the former Stavola Brothers Racing shop in Harrisburg, N.C., along with Cecil Tipton's Aerofab fabrication company.

"Billy's [Stavola] excited about it and we'd love to have him [more] involved," Mayfield said of the remaining brother from the team that won the 1988 Daytona 500. Mickey Stavola died at age 58 in 2001.

"I'm really excited because Tony and I have been real good friends, and Steve was a good friend who came with me from Owensboro [Ky.] when I first started racing," Mayfield said. "It's cool because I've got a lot of good people around me, who have been friends of mine throughout my driving career.

"I feel like, in the short amount of time we've been working on this, we're better than a lot of other teams already are, and with more [personnel] hopefully coming -- and they're all good. Our whole deal is to get into the top 35 [in owners' points] and stay there."

Mayfield said the team had two more cars under construction and plans to build another new car from scratch and to have its Daytona primary car and a backup speedway car, as well as its California primary car ready by the time it left for Florida later this week.

Mayfield said when he left for Daytona he planned to have 12 full-time employees and while he hoped to cross-employ some of them on his race-day pit crew, "eventually our goal is to have a pit crew that's nothing but a pit crew -- so a total of about 20 people."

Mayfield agreed that the lousy economy might position his group to be a proverbial "Trojan horse" of a race team.

"I really feel like it couldn't be a better time for us to do this," Mayfield said. "And I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have all the right people in place, though it seems like it's all fallen perfectly into place. You know how it is: If you're in the right place at the right time and everything feels right, you just do it.

"This wouldn't have been possible without NASCAR cutting out testing and bringing on the new car. [Starting a new team] is the true meaning of what it's done for the cost savings in the sport, because it's helped me a ton and I couldn't have done it any other way -- it's made it a reality for me to come in and compete.

"We're here for the long haul -- this isn't something I'm going into with short-term aspirations. Together with All Sport, we're going to compete this year with the goal to build a solid team for many years to come."