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Trick or treat It's been an up and down year for us
Halloween is this week and that seems pretty apropos for the Mobil 1 Taurus team. Our whole season has been either trick or treat, it seems. When we're running our best, the worst seems to happen. When we're struggling a little or going through bad times, good things seems to happen. Rockingham two weeks ago is a prime example. We won the pole and we had the dominant car, no doubt about it. Nobody could touch us. We led when we wanted to lead, and pretty much rode all day, waiting for the end of the race and knowing the race was ours to win. Then we had a battery go dead because of a problem with the alternator. So we move ahead to the last three races of the season, wanting to end on a really high note. We're way back in points for a couple of different reasons but we're going into these final races at Phoenix, Homestead and Atlanta figuring to give it everything we have. No doubt the best position to be in right now is on top of the points, knowing pretty much all you have to do is hang around for three straight races to win the championship. Bobby Labonte is the only one who knows what that feels like. It's got to be tough on those guys who are still in the deal mathematically. They have to run as hard as they can but they have to wonder how many chances they can take too -- will Bobby's car break for three straight races? What will happen to those other guys? Can you keep second if you don't win it? Man, that's tough. Our situation is a little different from theirs but our situation is probably pretty common all the way through the garage. For the most part, we don't have anything to lose now. We can go for broke every race. We don't have to really worry about the points. We can take some chances on set up, maybe let the car hang out a little more than we might otherwise, and really go as hard as we can go. The last three races have shown what we can do. At Charlotte, we were sitting in prime position to win the race. A couple of things going a different way -- nothing major but one or two really minor things -- and we would have won that race. We didn't qualify too well at Talladega but we were making our way up through the field pretty well. We were just trying to be as patient as we could be in a race that was a pretty tough one to be patient in. We broke a valve spring and got parked early. At Rockingham, man, we were the best thing out there, by far. We led the most laps and we weren't pushing anything hard at all. We were riding for most of it, and felt like we were easily the team to beat. Then we had the alternator problem that led to the battery running out of juice. So a little good luck, we would have won at least two of the last three races and maybe even all three. When we look back, though, we see another three or four races, at least, that we could have won. Little things got us at the wrong time. Things have turned around for this Mobil 1 team. We're not where we want to be yet -- until we win races and championships, we're not where we want to be -- but we are headed in the right direction. The guys on the crew, the engineers, everybody is working hard to get things where we want them. We're right on the verge of breaking through, and breaking through in a big, big way. It might happen at Phoenix or Homestead or it might happen at Atlanta. It might happen at all three. And it might happen at the first of next season. But that breakthrough is going to come and come soon for us. We see it happening, we feel it happening and, when you talk to other people around the garage, you can tell they see and feel the same thing. Our finishes at Phoenix over the years haven't been where we want them but we've had some really good runs there. Our cars are capable of running well there, it's just like we've seen all season long -- we just need to finish 'em off. It's the type of track we can get around pretty well. You need a good-handling car to make Phoenix work and we've had some good-handling tracks. If you're hooked up at Phoenix, you can really go. I guess Dale Jarrett proved that a couple of years ago when he made up a lap under green and won the race. I'm not sure anybody can be that strong again but we think we can get a car hooked up and give them a good run for their money. This Mobil 1 team can do that. We're capable of that. And maybe we'll make that last charge with a win or two along the way. Jeremy Mayfield, a three-time winner in the Winston Cup Series, is in his third season driving the Mobil 1 Ford Taurus for Penske Racing. His diary appears weekly on CNNSI.com.
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