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August 12, 2006
Mayfield v. Evernham, and other thoughts
By DAVID GREEN
Scattered thoughts on the first Saturday after being on the sidelines while I geared up for back-to-school:
JEREMY MAYFIELD -- Guess it depends on whether you're a big fan of Jeremy's or not, but this fellow's work history raises a question or two. At what point does the evidence suggest that he's not an easy driver to work with, and his performance is not up to the point that it makes it worthwhile to put up with that?
There are multiple sides to every story, of course, and somebody pointed out in another Turn 3 blog that the Evernham team's ouster of Jeremy was not done with the usual platitudes. (To me, that's a good thing. The nice goodbyes are almost always a hypocritical attempt to mitigate bad publicity. Regardless of whose story is closest to truthful, thanks for the candor this time, guys.)
There was a time -- specifically, when he was driving for Penske and was chasing Jeff Gordon at the Brickyard 400 when a tire failure sent him into the wall in the South Chute -- that I thought Mayfield might be (a) The Next Big Thing, (b) the driver who would become Ford's Anti-Gordon, or (c) at least a really good racecar driver. I'm not so sure anymore -- that he's that good, or that his talents are in step with a high-maintenance personality.
SESSION QUALIFYING -- I had alluded in an earlier post about road racing that the Busch Series, once upon a time, experimented with European-style qualifying, putting multiple cars on the track at a time rather than the oval-track-standard solo efforts for one, two or more laps. Watching today's session qualifying from Watkins Glen, I think it's a no-brainer that this should be adopted for all NASCAR road-course events.
I'm not sure it wouldn't be a good thing for ovals, as well. Fans may have gotten used to watching guys (and girls, in deference to the Drive for Diversity) go out one at a time and take their best shot in an all-or-nothing run on the clock. But session qualifying could provide better entertainment and probably would take less time, depending on how it were structured.
APROPOS PUNISHMENT? -- Does anybody besides me find it curious that NASCAR decided to deny Stephen Leicht some practice time at Watkins Glen as an incentive to get the rookie to obey full-course yellow flags?
You have a new driver with limited experience overall and especially at this track, and you think it will help to hold him out of part of a practice session just to make a point with him?
How about sitting him down and giving him a good Roto-Rooter job on some part of his anatomy (y'all can use your imaginations)? How about slapping a fine on somebody who does not yet have a multimillion dollar salary and another couple of millions in endorsements and investments and assets such as condos in Daytona and a palatial estate on Lake Norman -- in other words, somebody to whom a financial punishment might actually mean something?
If I were to use NASCAR's philosophy, the next time one of my 10th-graders failed to pay attention to some teaching point, I would suspend him from the classroom to impress upon him the importance of paying attention -- thereby preventing him from having the opportunity to pay attention to my lecture, my audio-visual aids, and any interaction between students and teacher about the subjects of the time during which he was "thinking about the importance of paying attention."
No offense to NASCAR, but I'm not following your example, thank you very much. I'll continue to remove students from my classroom when their disruptive behavior warrants it, not to make points about other issues.
PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION -- Thanks to Larry for his props regarding my humble thoughts posted on Turn 3 (in a reply to Doug, on Keith's "Competition Cautions" piece of Aug. 7). I'll get that check in the mail to you right away, Larry. Twenty dollars, we agreed upon, and another $5 for every successive time you pay me a compliment -- right? ;D
Hmmm -- wonder if I could buy Mike Daly's kindness with $20? Nah... And, do I care what Mike Daly thinks or writes about me? Nah, again...
INDYCARS AT DAYTONA -- News that broke Thursday about the exploration of IRL IndyCar Series testing at Daytona International Speedway was much bigger than the media attention it received, in my opinion.
When Bill France opened the Daytona track, USAC's Champ Cars were featured in a couple of events, one of which resulted in the death of Marshall Teague Feb. 11, 1959. Teague, 36, a Daytona Beach native, was a star of the early days of NASCAR and scored two victories on the Daytona Beach and Road Course. He switched to USAC's forerunner, the American Automobile Association (AAA), so he could pursue a Champ Car career and race in the Indy 500. He ran the 500 twice, with a best finish of seventh in 1957. Teague was killed when his Sumar Special crashed during practice Feb. 11, 1959. He was the first driver fatality at the new track.
Less than two months later, on April 4, George Amick became the second driver to die at DIS when he was killed in a crash during a 100-mile USAC Champ Car event. That was the end of Champ Car racing at Daytona.
Much has changed in the open-wheel racing world since then. Today's IRL IndyCar Series machines put on great shows at high-banked oval tracks such as Michigan, California, Texas, Chicagoland, Kansas, Kentucky, and others. With the series' present limitations, it's unlikely they'd go much (if any) faster at Daytona than they travel at 2- or 1.5-mile tracks. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me to think either that the cars are not suited for Daytona or that they would not put on a great show there, just like at those other tracks.
Hey, if NASCAR is racing at Indy, it seems only right that Indy cars should have the opportunity to race at Daytona.
MAKING A PREEMPTIVE strike against the Mike Dalys of the blogging universe, I'll steal this end-of-rant disclaimer from Dennis Miller: "...But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." Y'all have a great weekend, y'hear?
August 12, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Regardless of Mayfield's personality or how hard he may be to work with, the main point is that he spoke his mind, and I respect anyone that speaks what they think. Jeremy is WYSIWYG What you see is what you get. Evernham's reaction and behavior, and lack of "platitudes" as you say, gives substance to Jeremy's comments, as it's the actions of someone guilty, scorned, and angry. If you're not guilty of the insuations, then you're going to try to rectify the situation, not react in the fashion Evernham does. Evernham didn't like his personal life brought to light, or that he left his wife of many year to have "relations" with his driver, home wrecker Erin Cracker. Why is Evernham's behavior and lack of integrity being brought to light? They took Mayfield's crew away after last season, and gave him the piece of crap equipment Kasey had all last year. maybe that is when this all started. You want a racer, and someone that wants to win. I respect Jeremy for not accepting a sub-par effort and equipment and being competitive minded enough to let it be known instead of accepting it. Write what you want, but I'd look a little harder at Evernham's behavior than Mayfields. What is happening with driver/owner is why it is harder for women to be accepted in the garage and in the sport.
Posted by: Jack Petty | Aug 12, 2006 1:37:29 PM
Right On Jack. Adam failed when Eve flashed him the prize, Junior Johnson got out of racing because of it, and I'll bet you a BUD LIGHT that Dodge is not going to have its name draged into the mud along with Rays reputation.
Posted by: 328 | Aug 12, 2006 1:47:24 PM
The Mayfield/Evernham deal makes me realize that an owner is looking for a lot in a driver, more than just driving talent. Some drivers are really good at telling crews what the car needs. Others (Michael W) are good at selling the sponsor. Some (Jeff Burton at RCR) seem to be good "team players" around the shop. And lest there be any confusion, read the piece about Junior firing his Busch driver McFarland. From what I read, the firing had nothing to do with his driving - it was all his public image.
So it seems that perhaps Mayfield just wasn't a guy his team wanted to bust tail for. Too bad - I liked him when he drove for my all-time favorite driver, Cale Yarborough, back when Cale thought he could be a team owner.
Posted by: Doug | Aug 12, 2006 1:51:06 PM
I'm all for IRL cars at Daytona - but they have to put restrictors on the engines to keep them below 190 and they have to bolt on air-displacement to make the draft kick in - they took some drag out of the rear wings this year and it's greatly hurt ability to pass.
On Jeremy Mayfield - this is where the Race-Stream Media needs to step it up and stop kissing ass with the drivers. Based on RSM coverage one would never know that Mayfield has a high-maintenance approach that makes him difficult to work with. He's won five Winston Cup races, showing he has ability, but the mystery of why he hasn't won more would become clearer if the RSM would delve more critically at drivers, teams, manufacturers, etc.
Posted by: Mike Daly | Aug 12, 2006 2:05:32 PM
David,
This isn't a practice term paper is it?
On Mayfield, etiquette is etiquette and it's polite to end things politely. That said, we have no background on this divorce. I've never seen Mayfield as anything more than competent on the track. Especially after 2 no-shows in the Chase. I don't really like Evernhams style either as an owner. So, I guess I'm 50/50 on this.
Qualifying. It's a no brainer to adopt a road race qualifying style for a road course. They've been doing it for decades. They know what works.
On Leicht, I don't know if there was a close incident that influenced the decision. But yes, I always ponder suspensions from school being used as a learning tool.
On Promotional. I am not paying you the $5 for everytime you mention my column, as discussed. I'll make it $10. You're wife, however, has unfortunately (for you) funneled the funds into a secret "Green Shopping Account" located in the Bahamas.
Indy at Daytona should have been BIG NEWS! Can the tires carry the force of the turns. Can the drivers do the G-forces? I'd let them give it a go. Whats to lose except a kewl event?
There ya go teach.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 12, 2006 2:20:16 PM
Hey David,
It seemed like Jeremy would be a perfect fit for what Ray had going on. He had a rough time in Rusty's shadow(as no driver wants to be told how to drive, what to drive and handle sponsor obligations). Going to a team with "easy goin'" Bill already set to retire must have been refreshing. Certainly, he envisioned being the primary driver. Well, Kasey "reined" on that parade. Would like to see Jeremy with a future. Ya gotta wonder though, how many more chances he will get in good equipment before he finds himself in the truck series.
The Indy car test didn't even make the local news. That would be a cool addition to Speed Weeks. Yeah man...!!
Keep that payment, as I am not ready to turn pro.
Posted by: Larry | Aug 12, 2006 2:50:28 PM
It's one thing to "vent" but I think it was totally wrong of Mayfield to take his whining to the press. Then he didn't even have the gonads to stand behind what he said but blamed the media for taking his words out of context. Whatever. He's obviously hard to work with and a blame pusher. It's always someone else's fault (Rusty, Ray, Kahne, RogerP, etc...). He lost my respect. I'm looking forward to seeing Sadler in the 19. Jeremy needs to find an owner who will hold his hand the whole time and stroke his ego.
Posted by: DixieChick | Aug 12, 2006 5:01:14 PM
Dixie,
Bingo! Some things are better left unsaid. But, then again, if he thought he had to take it that far, maybe it was a waste of time anyway.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 12, 2006 6:35:37 PM
Surely that Indy car at Daytona is the road course, right? Then it could be a companion race to the 24hrs. Thought they determined years ago that it would not be safe on just the high banks. Also, thought there was a fuel pickup problem.
LOVE the idea of Helio climbing Tony's fence. (itwashisideafirst!)
Posted by: Larry | Aug 12, 2006 7:25:18 PM
OK, ha on me. You made me look.
They "discussed" having an irl test at Daytona.
As a winter test site for the series.
I found that funny, like they would test here without wanting to race. DKS
Posted by: Larry | Aug 12, 2006 8:18:18 PM
Damn David I thought I'd need a flak jacket and helmet when I started to read the barbs...(Kudos to Mike Daly for being gracious)...
Can we get over the he said she said soap opera crap at EMS? Who CARES if Ray's doinking Erin? THATS what RICH guys can do!!!...I'd be called a child molester!
Jeremy habitually lays down and talks trash when things are going right...so BOO HOO I hope he lands at BDR...Hey Jeremy wanna borrow a hankie now?
INDY cars at DIS are they a few fries short of a Happy Meal?...I thought there where laws against assisted suicide? These are glorified go karts and disintegrate if the come within 3 feet of each other...I just had an epiphany, Bring em on, CART and IRL FREE TESTING! my evil plot to have nascar take over the world just might work! I need to get the NHRA to try Daytona!
Sorry for the "correct grammer" and proper punctuation David, but it conveys a point.
So let's "Shut up and Race"
Posted by: Tbfka#5 | Aug 12, 2006 8:46:23 PM
"Guess it depends on whether you're a big fan of Jeremy's or not, but this fellow's work history raises a question or two."
That's the understatement of the year. His questionable behaviour dates back to him walking out on Penske with 8 races left in the season. He has done nothing but add to that perception since.
Screaming to an all too willing press before talking to the boss is inexcusable. And so is filing for a court injunction then talking over the matter after the proceding and coming to an agreement.
Funny what a Mayfield "greased palm" will do to an over active mouth.
Any owner desparate enough to sign him to a contract at this point deserves just what they get.
Posted by: Marc | Aug 12, 2006 8:58:32 PM
I think Ray is more interested in his crocker-pot than his Nextel cup drivers. His
sponsors need to jerk a knot in his tail. Ray did not handle this contract with Mayfield as a business man at all. I do not think owners should be sleeping with the
drivers. Dodge needs to give him a wake up message.....I wish Mayfield the best in
the future.....
Posted by: Snow | Aug 12, 2006 10:22:05 PM
"Doesn't seem far-fetched to me to think either that the cars are not suited for Daytona or that they would not put on a great show there, just like at those other tracks."
You must not have watched an IRL race before. The IRL races at Texas are the best races in and series period. Why? Because it's basically restrictor plate racing without the "big one." IRL drivers know how to race side by side without wrecking eachother unlike half the drivers in NASCAR.
That said I don't see how they can slow the IRL cars down enough to where they could race safely at Daytona. It's too big and too high banked. I think that they'd have to use a complely different engine package that what they're using now. But if they could get a package that works then I'm sure that they can put on a good show.
Posted by: Ken | Aug 12, 2006 10:42:17 PM
Here are the facts as I know them about Jeremy Mayfield.
Rusty Wallace did not like Jeremy and made it hard for him to compete. Jeremy finally made noise when they brought a short track car to a track that wasn't a short track. He asked how he was supposed to compete with that equipment.
Years later Rusty apologized and said that he was the cause of the problems when Jeremy was there. He stated he wasn't a good team player. Kudos to Rusty for owning up to it and we know he wasn't the best teammate to Ryan Newman.
Fast forward to the present. Jeremy made it into the chase two years in a row. Doesn't matter how he did when he got there. He made it and MANY others didn't including Dale JR and Jeff Gordon last year.
This year Evernham decided that Kasey Kahne is his golden boy, gives Jeremy crap for equipment and a crew and then goes away to play babysitter to the one woman wrecking crew of Erin Crocker.
Can you blame Jeremy for getting frustrated and spouting off?
I can think of a number of drivers who would have been much more vocal and it would have been accepted because they are like that all the time.
Sure hope Mayfield gets a quality ride.
Posted by: Ann | Aug 13, 2006 12:39:38 AM
Ken, my error in the construction of that sentence. What I meant to write (and should have more carefully edited) was that I think the IRL cars would be perfectly capable of safely competing at Daytona and they would put on a great show -- as they do at the tracks you mentioned. My mistake.
To those who suggest the IRL cars could not safely compete at Daytona, a couple of points -- while there have been two fatalities (Tony Renna at Indianapolis and Paul Dana at Homestead) in the new-generation IRL equipment, there have been some absolutely horrifying crashes that drivers have survived. Helio Castroneves won the pole at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Saturday at 218 and change. That's 2 mph faster than he ran at the 2-mile Michigan Speedway in winning the pole there last week and 5 mph slower than his pole-winning speed at Texas in June.
These guys run flat-out most everywhere they go. They're not going to go much faster at Daytona. G-forces will be less, not more, than on a shorter or less-steeply banked track. They have come light years from the days of the old roadsters, which I loved but which were death traps. The new cars can safely compete at Daytona and will put on their usual good show, in my opinion, with minor adjustments -- which Brian Barnhart's team has shown they are more than capable of making.
Posted by: David Green | Aug 13, 2006 2:44:09 AM
Another error on my part: Castroneves ran 5 p.m. SLOWER at the Texas track than he ran at Kentucky, not 5 mph faster as I wrote. Whew. Sorry again.
Posted by: David Green | Aug 13, 2006 8:20:04 AM
Who cares if Ray is intimate with his woman driver. I say more power to him; she's an attractive young lady. She also happens to destroy too many cars and trucks.
As for Mayfield 5 wins ranks him barely above Michael Waltrip. Waltrip's wins all came when NASCAR was giving the DEI cars larger restrictor plates. Mayfield, even while making the chase the past two seasons hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
Go enjoy some Olive Garden, Jeremey and feed your dogs. I hope you enjoy the Furniture Row Chevy next season.
Posted by: Jerry North | Aug 13, 2006 10:38:44 AM
Jerry,
If Crocker turns out to be with Evernham then she's tainted as a "Woman" driver. There goes diversity...she slept her way into the top series and every fan will always think that.
You can stop the DEI Plate conspiracy theory. They're randomly drawn prior to the event. They had an aero superiority which has diminished a bit as teams caught on. Pssst, there was no-one on the grassy knoll and Area 51 does not have an alien ship either.
Jeremey is light years ahead of Waltrip as a driver (Ok, my grandmother is too). Waltrip should never be used in a comparision with an actual racer.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 13, 2006 11:34:50 AM
i've heard more than once jeremy didn't do anything in the chase. how about this he's one of 7 drivers to make it the first 2 years. jeremy was positive when asked about his team all year until something had to be said. go to evernham's website and read the pre race reports if you don't believe me. when your owner makes no changes on a terrible team you have to say something. are you going to sit at your job and get crapped on all day, and just take it? for everyone who says he's whinning look at it that way. and if you would just take it, grow a pair. as far as jeremy not standing behind his comments, he couldn't without facing the threat of being dropped from his ride and no financial considerations. one final thing, this team is so bad they got lapped at daytona because their car was so bad. everyone knows the team makes the car at a track like daytona, not a driver.
Posted by: eric | Aug 13, 2006 4:15:51 PM
It seems the concensus amongst those people making thoughtful comments is that Mayfield had a honest beef and maybe he was forced into taking action. I think Mayfield is an OK driver. He never got respect at Pensky and I honestly believe he got shafted at EMS. Some one compared him to Mickey the mouth, that is not fair. Try comparing him to Harvick. When you take into consideration the teams they drive for, I would say he is close in wins (not in popularity). RYR is in a position to latch onto Jeremy for the remainder of the season and I think he would be a perfect fit for the job. I'd like to see RYR offer him a chance for full time based on performance.
Posted by: 328 | Aug 14, 2006 8:02:04 AM
Hey again David,
The IRL test deal finally made sunday's News-Journal. Will look foreward to that test.
Now I get your problem with the lucky dog. Nascar will figure out something for that.
Posted by: Larry | Aug 14, 2006 9:27:54 AM
David, you have some great “thoughts.” I’ve been thinking about some of them as well. Especially “European-style qualifying.” I don’t think it would work at Bristol, but it certainly made Busch qualifying more interesting at The Glen, and I think is appropriate for all series at road courses.
I can’t believe “The St. Pete Times” had one up on the “News-Journal.” I read about IRL testing at DIS on Sat. 8/12. My first thought was: now I’ve got to go to NASCAR testing in Jan., celebrate my birthday over there in February, AND back for IRL testing in March. (The key word is “testing.”) Going to be spending a lot of time in Daytona the first of next year! Might have to take a couple days off in September as well.
Here is what was written in “The Times,” in case anyone is interested:
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IRL to try Daytona on for size
By Wire services
Published August 12, 2006
________________________________________
Up to four Indy Racing League drivers will test in late September on Daytona International Speedway's road course to determine the feasibility of holding part of the league's spring training there in March.
If the track is deemed suitable for its cars and tires, IRL teams would likely test 2-3 days at Daytona in the spring, then head to Homestead-Miami Speedway (another International Speedway Corp. facility) for oval tests, according to league spokesman John Griffin. Homestead has hosted both the road-course and oval-testing segments in recent years.
The idea was proposed by IRL vice president of development John Lewis in the spring because the league is interested in alternate warm-weather sites.
"(DIS officials) were very receptive," Griffin said. "They asked us if we were disappointed at Homestead, and we told them we are committed to Homestead for testing."
The IRL stresses it is not seeking to race at Daytona. League officials walked the 3.56-mile course two weeks ago and could alter the route to include less of the 31-degree-banked, 2.5-mile oval track than for normal road-course events. Turns 3 and 4 and part of the frontstretch, before the course tucks back into the infield near the end of pit road, are likely to remain.
Griffin said the possible DIS tests do not indicate problems with Homestead or its date, but league officials have said it might not always host the opener.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/12/Sports/IRL_to_try_Daytona_on.shtml
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Jeremy probably would have been fine if Kasey would have stayed with Ford. (Kasey did inherit his ’05 team, didn’t he?) But I agree - with “his work history” Jeremy better take the next offer he receives. I can’t believe he didn’t jump at the opportunity to join Michael Waltrip Racing, although I’m glad he didn’t. I’m not for or against Jeremy Mayfield, but I don’t think he would be an asset to MWR. Plus, I was hoping for Elliott Sadler to fill that ride. If Jeremy doesn’t take someone up on their offer soon, I have a feeling the Truck series (or a recliner) will be where he ends up in 2007.
And David, don’t you change your teaching philosophy one bit. If anything, you should take a “summer job” with NASCAR and educate the TPTB how to execute proper discipline. They can’t seem to figure it out on their own!
Posted by: Shirley | Aug 14, 2006 12:10:14 PM
Shirley I think MWR is better off without JM, I don't care for his work ethic when tomes get tough, i beleive he'll be at BDR!
Posted by: Tbfka#5 | Aug 14, 2006 1:44:51 PM
Welcome home Shirley!
Posted by: Fernando | Aug 14, 2006 1:48:06 PM
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