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Posted on Wed, Sep. 18, 2002
'Heyyy, Jer-ah-may' Mayfield
looks to meet the expectations
By JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
This was supposed to be the season Jeremy Mayfield finally lived up to his promise. In a fancy new ride fielded by Ray Evernham, Mayfield was expected to make his mark on the track.
Instead, he's made his name off of it thanks to a tounge-in-cheek Dodge commercial that has all of NASCAR saying, "Heyyy, Jer-ah-may."
The ad, which depicts a NASCAR-obsessed woman preparing for a date with Mayfield by splashing herself with gasoline and various other automotive products, has dogged the driver all season.
Everywhere he goes at the race track, fans mimic the way the woman greets Mayfield as she slides through the window of his Dodge Intrepid. Even Chase Elliott, the 6-year-old son of Mayfield's teammate, Bill Elliott, has the greeting down pat.
"I think (the commercial) has been one of the biggest things of my career," Mayfield said. "I think it's helped get our name out there and build our image and it's cool, funny and everybody watches it."
But everyone was supposed to be watching him during the races this season, not during the commercial breaks.
That's not how it has worked out as Mayfield and his No. 19 team have struggled to get things going under the ultra-successful Evernham. While teammate Elliott has won twice this season and sits seventh in the standings headed into Dover International Speedway this weekend, Mayfield is stuck back in 27th with just three Top 10 finishes all year and hasn't come close to winning a race.
Evernham shook things up midway through the season, moving crew chief Sammy Johns off the car and allowing a committee of employees to run the show.
It sometimes forces Evernham, who won three Winston Cup titles as Jeff Gordon's crew chief before becoming an owner, to put his briefcase down and climb under the hood of a car again.
"There's been times I walked away because I felt like I was screwing them up, there's time when I've got to stop," Evernham said. "I won a lot of races and championships as a crew chief and it wouldn't be the brightest thing in the world to stand by and not use what might help my guys.
"But that's a fine line, because sometimes by trying to help you can screw them up."
But Evernham is trying to walk that line, even though he thought those days were long behind him. It's all in the effort to figure out why Mayfield is struggling.
He burst onto the Winston Cup scene with Penske Racing, finishing seventh in the points in 1998. But the union was never strong – Mayfield and Penske teammate Rusty Wallace never really got along all that well – and Mayfield left the team is September of last season.
Then he dropped out of sight, staying away from the race track while Evernham worked out a way to hire him for his second team.
Making it work wasn't easy – Casey Atwood was already driving the car and Evernham had to buy part of Ultra Motorsports and move Atwood into that ride – but when it was official, Mayfield was supposed to come back with a vengeance.
He hasn't, but Mayfield chalks it up to first-year hiccups.
"I think a lot of it was getting used to the team, and as far as I'm concerned as a driver, figuring out how things are done there and the way Ray's process is set up as far as the way he runs his race team," Mayfield said. "It's like a building block. You get a foundation done and keep adding steps to that."
Evernham agrees, pointing out that it took him most of last season to get things clicking with Elliott. A first-year team last season, Elliott had just one win – and it didn't come until November.
"With Jeremy, in fairness to both of us, we're just now getting to know one another and we both expected to come into this deal and go win races right off the bat," Evernham said. "When I look back to last year, it really took six to eight months to understand Bill.
"But I think Jeremy and I have gotten to that link now and I probably put a little too much pressure on him at the beginning of the season."
Now they are focusing on the future, buoyed by small signs that the team is turning the corner.
He was 10th two weeks ago at Richmond, and followed it by qualifying ninth for Sunday's race in New Hampshire. And even though he dropped back and finished 24th, one spot behind Elliott, the communication lines are strong and there's hope for a better year in 2003.
Mayfield is so certain he can eventually be a championship contender under Evernham, he already talks as if it's the last team he'll ever drive for.
"This team I'm with now, this is where I've always wanted to be," he said. "I've always had my sights set on a top-level team and I feel like this is the one. I want to do everything I can to make this team work on my part, and I feel like Ray has done the same thing. I hope I can retire where I'm at."
Posted on Wed, Sep. 18, 2002
'Heyyy, Jer-ah-may' Mayfield
looks to meet the expectations
By JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
This was supposed to be the season Jeremy Mayfield finally lived up to his promise. In a fancy new ride fielded by Ray Evernham, Mayfield was expected to make his mark on the track.
Instead, he's made his name off of it thanks to a tounge-in-cheek Dodge commercial that has all of NASCAR saying, "Heyyy, Jer-ah-may."
The ad, which depicts a NASCAR-obsessed woman preparing for a date with Mayfield by splashing herself with gasoline and various other automotive products, has dogged the driver all season.
Everywhere he goes at the race track, fans mimic the way the woman greets Mayfield as she slides through the window of his Dodge Intrepid. Even Chase Elliott, the 6-year-old son of Mayfield's teammate, Bill Elliott, has the greeting down pat.
"I think (the commercial) has been one of the biggest things of my career," Mayfield said. "I think it's helped get our name out there and build our image and it's cool, funny and everybody watches it."
But everyone was supposed to be watching him during the races this season, not during the commercial breaks.
That's not how it has worked out as Mayfield and his No. 19 team have struggled to get things going under the ultra-successful Evernham. While teammate Elliott has won twice this season and sits seventh in the standings headed into Dover International Speedway this weekend, Mayfield is stuck back in 27th with just three Top 10 finishes all year and hasn't come close to winning a race.
Evernham shook things up midway through the season, moving crew chief Sammy Johns off the car and allowing a committee of employees to run the show.
It sometimes forces Evernham, who won three Winston Cup titles as Jeff Gordon's crew chief before becoming an owner, to put his briefcase down and climb under the hood of a car again.
"There's been times I walked away because I felt like I was screwing them up, there's time when I've got to stop," Evernham said. "I won a lot of races and championships as a crew chief and it wouldn't be the brightest thing in the world to stand by and not use what might help my guys.
"But that's a fine line, because sometimes by trying to help you can screw them up."
But Evernham is trying to walk that line, even though he thought those days were long behind him. It's all in the effort to figure out why Mayfield is struggling.
He burst onto the Winston Cup scene with Penske Racing, finishing seventh in the points in 1998. But the union was never strong – Mayfield and Penske teammate Rusty Wallace never really got along all that well – and Mayfield left the team is September of last season.
Then he dropped out of sight, staying away from the race track while Evernham worked out a way to hire him for his second team.
Making it work wasn't easy – Casey Atwood was already driving the car and Evernham had to buy part of Ultra Motorsports and move Atwood into that ride – but when it was official, Mayfield was supposed to come back with a vengeance.
He hasn't, but Mayfield chalks it up to first-year hiccups.
"I think a lot of it was getting used to the team, and as far as I'm concerned as a driver, figuring out how things are done there and the way Ray's process is set up as far as the way he runs his race team," Mayfield said. "It's like a building block. You get a foundation done and keep adding steps to that."
Evernham agrees, pointing out that it took him most of last season to get things clicking with Elliott. A first-year team last season, Elliott had just one win – and it didn't come until November.
"With Jeremy, in fairness to both of us, we're just now getting to know one another and we both expected to come into this deal and go win races right off the bat," Evernham said. "When I look back to last year, it really took six to eight months to understand Bill.
"But I think Jeremy and I have gotten to that link now and I probably put a little too much pressure on him at the beginning of the season."
Now they are focusing on the future, buoyed by small signs that the team is turning the corner.
He was 10th two weeks ago at Richmond, and followed it by qualifying ninth for Sunday's race in New Hampshire. And even though he dropped back and finished 24th, one spot behind Elliott, the communication lines are strong and there's hope for a better year in 2003.
Mayfield is so certain he can eventually be a championship contender under Evernham, he already talks as if it's the last team he'll ever drive for.
"This team I'm with now, this is where I've always wanted to be," he said. "I've always had my sights set on a top-level team and I feel like this is the one. I want to do everything I can to make this team work on my part, and I feel like Ray has done the same thing. I hope I can retire where I'm at."
