Jeremy Mayfield’s mind was on making a delivery, far away from what’s happening in the Sprint Cup Series, as he maneuvered his big truck through the back roads of Georgia. It’s part of what Mayfield does these days between planning a comeback in racing and battling NASCAR in court. But Mayfield understands the desperation felt by Ryan Newman, who is 117 points out of the final Chase spot heading into Saturday night’s regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway. He gets it when Jamie McMurray, the next driver back at 128 out, says he can’t do anything more than he’s done all season. Before Mayfield became NASCAR’s poster boy for drug suspensions last season, he was the poster boy for Chase miracles. “The whole week going into it we could have very easily have just said it was over,” Mayfield recalled as his cell phone phased in and out. “We knew it was a long shot to make it. But it was just so cool, because we all remained calm and were willing to do what we had to do, and everything fell together. It’s what everybody dreams about, where your car is awesome, the calls are good and everything goes your way. It was almost like a miracle happened for you.”
Mayfield hasn’t kept up much with what has happened this season. Other than knowing there’s not much drama heading into this weekend barring a miracle twice the one he had, his focus has been on getting his life back in order. He has a few racing deals in the works, one that could put him in a dirt-track car for some late-season, big-money events and another that could put him in an open-wheel car next season. Mayfield’s battle with NASCAR is about to heat up again, too, as he plans an appeal if he loses the lawsuit the governing body has against him. See full story and many quotes by Mayfield at ESPN.com.(9-10-2010)
