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Collecting a debt Sour finish provides this year's Pocono motivation
Updated: Tuesday June 12, 2001 12:02 PM
As good a time as we've had at Pocono the past few years, we're going in there this week feeling the track owes us one. I guess that doesn't sound very nice, but the race last July was really a heartbreaker for us. Even after the big win in June, going from the front to 10th between the next-to-last turn and the finish line really hurt. We're going back into that place this week loaded for bear, figuring the track owes us something and this Mobil 1 bunch still has a little something for the track. We've had a great car there in the past, fantastic cars last year. And we're looking to pick up right where we left off. Anytime you go back somewhere as the defending champion, you have to feel pretty good about your chances. That's no guarantee, for sure. We won at Pocono in 1998 and went back there three times without winning anything before we won there again. People learn stuff from race to race. I'm sure a lot of teams learned from the two races last year, and they will be able to use that for this upcoming race. Even though we ran really well all day long in both races last season, I think we learned a lot too, and we'll be able to use those things to help us run even better this week. Pocono has always been one of my favorite tracks. I can't tell you for sure if it's been one of my favorites because I run well there, or I run well there because it's one of my favorites. It really doesn't make any difference what caused what. I'm just glad we're heading back. Believe me, if NASCAR ever decides they want to run three or four or five races at Pocono every year, they can count on me to be a big-time supporter. Last year's (June) race was really something. I heard a lot about it then, and I've heard a lot about it since. It was a big deal at the time. Beating Dale Earnhardt was pretty special. As many times as Earnhardt beat people, beating him once like that has got to be special. Yeah, it probably means even more now after what happened in February. I'd love to be in that situation again with him. I don't know how it would come out, but I'd love to be in that situation again. You have to admit, it was a pretty exciting finish. NASCAR racing was pretty well made on last-lap passes and hard racing, and I think Dale and this Mobil 1 bunch were able to give the fans just that. A lot of people have said a lot of different things, but it really was just hard-nosed racing there at the end. I still haven't seen any tapes, not where I actually sat down and really studied it, and I still can't tell you for sure whether we touched or whether I took the air off of him or what. There are a lot of different opinions but I'm not sure what happened, and I don't think Dale ever knew for sure. When you're running these cars almost a football field a second, things tend to happen in a big hurry. I heard from a lot of people after that race. There were a ton of people who called, and a ton more who found me at the track at Sears Point and Daytona and New Hampshire, just to slap me on the back and congratulate our race team. Winning is a good feeling anytime you do it. It's something we'd like to do more of, believe me. I think winning in June, coupled with how good we ran all day in the second race, made the outcome in July that much harder to take. A couple of guys were ready to make a run on us, but I honestly think we were going to have them covered. Then, coming out of turn 2, the tire cut. In this sport, you take the good with the bad. The problem is the good never lasts long enough and the bad never goes away fast enough. You ask around this sport and you find out just about everybody has been living under a black cloud most of their Winston Cup careers anyway. I can kind of see that. It's just the nature of the sport. No matter how many races you win, you've always lost more than you've won. Wins are precious and they are tough to come by for everybody. Losses are a dime a dozen. Still, I pretty much stay upbeat and the guys on the team do, too. This is where I have always wanted to be -- racing NASCAR Winston Cup, the biggest racing circuit in the world, with a top team. A lot of guys, I think, are like me. You've worked all of your life to get here. How could you not be happy? Sure, you want to win; you want to win as much as you want anything. That is what drives you. That is all you think about. Winning is what you eat, sleep, think about all day long. Not winning is terrible. But still, it's like that bumper sticker: A bad day racing is better than a good day anywhere else. I'm not sure which fell quicker that (July) Sunday -- the tire or my heart. I've always heard when you are in that situation (leading late in the race), you start hearing strange noises and wondering what's going to happen to you. All I was thinking was how fast Rusty (Wallace) and Jeff (Burton) were moving, if they had enough to catch me and what I would do if they did. I didn't hear anything until the tire cut. I guess the next thing I heard was my heart falling. No, I didn't think I was going to start crying, but I wasn't planning any parties either. It was pretty heartbreaking for all of us. These guys had worked so hard and we've been right on the verge of winning just about every race all summer. But we know that trophy didn't say "Pocono 499" on it, and if somebody besides us took it home, I'm glad it was Rusty and those guys. This year? Don't tell Doc and Rose (Mattioli, owners of Pocono), but right now I'm pulling for rainy weather. That seems to be our lucky charm at Pocono. This race last year, we won Monday after losing Sunday to rain. In 1998, we ended up winning with the skies nearly black and celebrated in Victory Lane while it was raining all over us. At least for those two races, I can tell you one group of people wasn't upset about the weather at all. In fact, the Mobil 1 guys figure they don't have a Victory Lane in Pocono that doesn't have rain in it. It's cool to be going back as defending champions but, you know what? Nobody cares but us. That's not going to make us any faster or make us handle any better or make our pit stops as fast as they were in the two races last year, but we know that. We have to keep working and keep moving forward. We celebrated that win last year. Believe me, it was fun. But we went right back to work, too. You can't rest in this sport. You're either moving forward or wondering what happened. That's why we're excited about getting back to Pocono. We have something to build on and we think we can be pretty good there again. This Mobil 1 bunch has something to prove, and we're going to see if we can't cash in on what that racetrack owes us. Jeremy Mayfield is in his fourth year driving the Penske Racing / Mobil 1 No. 12 Ford. His diary will appear weekly on CNNSI.com in 2001.
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