Mayfield Bound for Turkey Derby XLI
Mayfield Enjoying Return to Racing
Jeremy Mayfield of Owensboro, KY will be among the entries for Saturday’s Turkey Derby XLI at Wall (NJ) Stadium Speedway. He is in a better place than he was a year ago, back behind the wheel.
“We’ve got a really great team,” Mayfield said. “We’ve put together some good guys and good equipment and I’ve just had a great year. … We’ve led a lot of laps in the KOMA stuff and we’re competitive and we’ve been running good and it’s just been a great year for me so far.”
“We knew it was a big race and we’re doing all the races we can everywhere and just feel like that would be a good one to run and driving in the Modifieds, I’ve had a good time doing that.”
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner enters the event with high expectations.
“I just want to go into it just doing the best we can and I know I’ve got a good car, in Dave Brigati’s car because I know they’ll be fast and we’ll take all we get.” “… I’ve been watching a lot of races on YouTube, watching the track and how it works and all that stuff, so I think we’ll be pretty good, pretty quick.”
Mayfield is familiar with adapting to tracks as he traveled to many new places this season. The banked 1/3 mile oval will be bring Mayfield back to his roots racing in Tennessee.
“I’ve run places that have got a lot more banking than that. Bristol was one of ’em and I kind of grew up in Nashville and running on a 5/8 down there, which is high banked, and then I run Highland Rim Tennessee, which is huge. It’s real small, but real high banked track, so I kind of grew up on tracks like that and I feel like I’m going to pretty much like it and know it’s my style track. It’s high banked and a short track, so I think it will be okay and like I said, I’ll have a good car, be able to get a few laps in practice and then run from there.”
A regular in the upstart KOMA Unwind Modified Madness Series, Mayfield had six top 10s in eight starts, with a best finish of fourth at Anderson (SC) Motor Speedway. The season finale was at Myrtle Beach (SC) Speedway Saturday night.
“They’re a lot of fun, and that’s something I wanted to do was go back and have fun again racing and get back to doing what I love to do, and that’s driving race cars and not having all the politics involved. I just felt like that would be a good class and the KOMA series looked appealing to us. … I’ve had a great time. I get to run a lot of different racetracks and it’s just been fun running ’em.”
“I think it’s a great series. … They had a few issues with the timing and scoring at the beginning of the year, but they got that worked out and they’ve done a great job with what they’ve done so far. … (KOMA has) really helped and they’re a sponsor of our car, which is a great product, KOMA Unwind and I think it’s a series that’s got a lot of potential and the competition is probably as good as anywhere. You’ve got Tim Brown, Burt Myers, Jason Myers, there’s a bunch of good cars that run this series and that’s probably as tough a competition as you’ll find anywhere, especially in a Modified.”
Mayfield appreciates the support from his fan base. Mayfield has signed a lot of die cast cars and memorabilia from his NASCAR career with Team Penske and Evernham Motorsports.
“It’s been really good. Everywhere we’ve been it’s just been great and just feels good to be back … It’s just been unbelievable the support were getting and just to be back racing again and just like you said it’s been really exciting for me to see all the fans and the welcome back that were getting has just been unbelievable.”
“It wasn’t my driving ability that is the reason I’m not in NASCAR, it’s ’cause I didn’t play the game and that’s something I’m proud of… It was just all about off the track, not playing their game and that’s something I think people still like the fact that they know that I can get the job done. It’s just a matter of doing it and I think that’s why I’m getting a lot of support still.”
Mayfield has been able to follow his passion full-time again. “We’re not doing it just as a hobby. We’re doing it as good as we can and we’re still racing for a living, which is a good thing. … I’m not sure the living’s as good as it used to be, but it’s still pretty good.”
Mayfield has raced a limited schedule of dirt races this season. He acknowledged the challenge of adapting to dirt tracks in Super Late Models. Mayfield said he is going to “continue to build this thing until we get it to where we want it.” Mayfield is trying to learn as much as possible to be competitive in a new discipline.
“It’s something that I feel like I can do and going to have to do. It’s something that I’ve got to prove to myself and a lot of people out there that I can get the job done and whatever it takes. It’s a big learning curve, but it would be a great accomplishment if we can conquer it.”
“If you win in a Super Late Model, especially the big races, you can win about anything. … There’s not too many NASCAR drivers, if any at all, can go win in a Super Late Model race, a dirt track race or Lucas Oil race or whatever on any given day. I say you put them all out there and they couldn’t win right off the bat.”
“I feel like if I can go and be competitive to where I can win those races. First of all, too, I’m not looking at this as something to prove other than I just want to win races. … I’m just going back to win just to be a winner, cause I love racing and I don’t like running second either.”
Mayfield is driving for car owner Aaron Thomas. The team is based in Denver, NC.
“He’s just great to give me an opportunity to do this and be able to do it full-time and be here every day working on racecars.”
Mayfield is eager to complete his comeback with a visit to victory lane. “That’s going to be a huge accomplishment and then at we’ll least come back as a winner.” His sole focus is winning.
When Mayfield finished fourth in 1993 ARCA Racing Series points, he competed on a diverse circuit. Short tracks like Columbus and Five Flags, the traditional dirt miles of DuQuoin and Springfield, and Superspeedways like Atlanta and Michigan.
“I kind of like going around and seeing all the new tracks and just racing different stuff and just short tracks in general. … People look at it differently, but I’m having probably the best time of my whole career right now just doing what I love to do.”
Mayfield made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in 1993. He took over the No. 98 for Cale Yarborough midway through the 1994 season for his first regular ride. He moved to Michael Kranefuss’ No. 37 late in 1996. He continued with the team as it gained a new identity in No. 12 and eventually a teammate to Rusty Wallace at Penske. With sponsorship from Mobil 1, he won his first race at Pocono in 1998 en route to seventh in standings. 2000 saw a pair of victories at Fontana and Pocono, where he bumped Dale Earnhardt from the lead in turn three on the final lap. A familiar move in his playbook, Earnhardt did not appreciate the maneuver.
Mayfield joined Bill Elliott at Ray Evernham’s Dodge team fr 2002. Mayfield clinched a berth in the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup with a victory at Richmond in 2004. He won at Michigan the following August for his final victory. Those were his best years with Evernham with tenth and ninth place finishes in the standings. He has not had a full-time ride in Sprint Cup since.
“I’ve already been there and done that. I already have been to the top and seen all that and seen what goes on inside and outside within organizations and now I can go back and run short tracks.
“I’m not trying to work my way to the top. I’m not sitting here holding out hope trying to get a ride. I hope I get a sponsor, so I can go run in Nationwide or Truck or Cup and do all that stuff. I’m not even worried about none of that.”
“I’ve just been fortunate enough to go to the top and come back down and start over again and still be fortunate enough to still be driving, so that’s what makes me happy every day. I’m just thankful that all that other junk’s behind me and I ain’t got to deal with that no more. I can just get back on with my life and build from here.”
Mayfield has not competed in NASCAR since May 2009, when he was indefinitely suspended for a substance abuse violation. Instead of following protocol to be reinstated, Mayfield fought back in court.
“When you look at NASCAR as a whole, they’re a billion dollar company. I went up against ’em and I wasn’t going to win with the media or nobody. They had me whipped right there, right off the bat. Everyone was trying to destroy me, and they tried, and that’s just part of it. You just live and learn and move on, but at the end of the day like you said, I know what happened and I know what went on and that’s why I can hold my head up high and go back racing again.
“There’s nothing for me to be ashamed of. The only thing I did was run out of money. If I had a billion dollars too, it would be a whole different ballgame, ’cause I’d have done what they’d done and fought right back with them. But I just didn’t have the money to keep up with ’em, but that’s part of it and I learned a lot and a better person now through all that … I’m sitting here today going I’m smarter, tougher and learned a lot through all that and just used it as an advantage on down the road.”
The No. J2 on his car represents his second chance. “I always figured J2 would be a good number and letting everybody know we’re back again.”
Mayfield is testing the dirt Late Model “quite a bit” in the coming weeks to understand what the cars need first. He will begin racing in January and estimates 50 dirt events on his schedule. He will also continue racing in the KOMA Modifieds as well.
“We’re just going to run whenever we want to run and race wherever we can to race. … We’ll start running around and trying to make some big shows and then after that we’ll just continue on doing it. We don’t really have any real set plans other than we’re just going to race everywhere we can possibly race at.”
“That’s what I’m excited about, just racing and we’re going to try and run a lot of different places and let the fans see that we’re back.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com