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One of the favorites CNNSI.com's Jeremy Mayfield runs well at Daytona
Posted: Monday February 07, 2000 03:44 PM
It's almost hard to believe another season is getting ready to start. The week Daytona International Speedway opens for the Daytona 500 is kind of like a sunny morning after a hard rainstorm the night before. Everything seems new and shiny. Everybody is on equal terms. Nobody is ahead, nobody is behind. The day before Daytona opens, there is an 80-team tie for first place in the standings. Then, everything starts to change. After the starting lineup is decided, there is a 43-team tie for first. And after the Daytona 500, it's a close race but, at the most, two teams are tied for first. Once the 500 is over, it's not new anymore. We're feeling pretty good right now. The Mobil 1 Taurus has been really good in the past at Daytona. Three years ago, we finished sixth in the Daytona 500. Two years ago, we finished third. Last year, we were a top-five car but cut a tire late in the race, lost a lap on an unscheduled pit stop, and finished well back in a car we thought was capable of at least fifth place. This year, well, we think we can get this Mobil 1 Taurus into victory lane. A prediction? No. Just a really good feeling is all. We tested really well at Daytona and at Talladega, and we feel pretty good about where we stand right now. (Crew chief) Peter Sospenso, (shop leader) Billy Woodruff and the guys in the shop have busted their tails all winter long, and have gotten us into a good position. There are some variables and some unknowns. The Taurus is brand-new this year. We have a pretty good idea of what it can do and where we stand with it. Keep in mind that Chevrolet has a brand-new Monte Carlo this year too. Since I drive a Ford, I don't know what that Monte Carlo is capable of doing. I have an idea but, unless you sit behind the wheel of one, you don't really know what it can do. Taurus drivers are going to go into Daytona feeling the Chevrolet guys have an advantage. And the Chevrolet guys are going to go into Daytona feeling the Taurus guys have an advantage. The Pontiacs? Well, they were awfully good last year and that car is the same as it was. What is usually billed as an argument between Ford and Chevrolet might end up being finished by Pontiac. You just don't know right now. In fact, we might not know for several weeks. You take one kind of car to Daytona, another kind to Rockingham and maybe even a third kind to Las Vegas. After that, Atlanta is another kind of car. Everything is close but different enough to keep you from making a true judgement as to what is good and what needs work. This much is pretty well guaranteed with NASCAR - if one make is far behind, they'll work to help it catch up. They won't help it get past the other two, but they'll help it catch up. If the Taurus is ahead, I'm not going to be happy if NASCAR does help the other two. But I know they will. And if one of the other two is ahead, well, I'll be pretty happy with whatever decisions NASCAR makes to help us out. I don't see a problem with that. Every other sport changes and modifies its rules to make the game better -- whether it's baseball lowering the pitcher's mound or football putting in the "bump" rule for defensive backs or basketball saying you can only touch a guy you are defending in certain ways -- all of it is to make the sport more competitive and better for the fans. Deep down, no matter what the changes are, it's pretty hard to fault NASCAR when they are making things better for the fans. After all, isn't that why we are all here? Jeremy Mayfield is entering his third season driving the Mobil 1 Penske-Kranefuss Racing Ford Taurus on the Winston Cup circuit. His column appears weekly on CNNSI.com.
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