Jeremy Mayfield anxious to get back to work
CONCORD, N.C. – Jeremy Mayfield would gladly race Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 41 Sprint Cup car if asked, but whether that request will come is still to be determined.
Mayfield is testing the No. 41 car Tuesday and Wednesday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway while Reed Sorenson watched. Sorenson is moving to Gillett Evernham Motorsports next season.
“Obviously I’d love to get in the car and drive next year for sure,” Mayfield said Tuesday night. “It’s a great race team with a great sponsor. … We’ll see. I’m not going to let the pressure [mount].”
Chip Ganassi Racing President Steve Lauletta said he expects Sorenson to finish out the season in the No. 41 car.
“We put Jeremy in the test for today and tomorrow just to kind of get a baseline of a different feel of where we are, knowing that we need to get [our cars] running better,” Lauletta said. “That’s the only decision that’s been made. We’ll see how we do the next couple of days and Chip will revisit it and we’ll go from there.
“But right now, Reed is running Kansas and there are no changes other than Jeremy doing this test for us.”
Mayfield, who has 428 career Cup starts, hasn’t been in a car since he drove the No. 40 Ganassi car in place of the injured Dario Franchitti at Dover last June. He was wearing the same suit during the test that he wore in that race.
“I’ve talked to them [at Ganassi] off and on and am good friends with a lot of guys over here,” Mayfield said. “They needed some help and I thought I’d come over here and help out. That’s all it is pretty much.”
Since he has only had that one race since parting ways with Haas CNC Racing after just seven events, Mayfield has watched the races each week from home.
“Every Sunday when I watch it, it’s pretty tough,” Mayfield said. “I don’t miss running like I was running. I was running bad and I don’t miss that a bit.
“But I do miss racing. … This reminds me of the good times, getting around a team like this that knows what’s going on and has something to work with.”
He expects to do that again this Sunday with Sorenson taking over the No. 41 car for the race. Mayfield is considered a candidate for the job next year.
“He’s certainly on the list,” Lauletta said. “Chip’s been very deliberate about taking our time and looking through all of our options. The options are starting to shrink. Jeremy is somebody that we talked to. We’ve just got to play it through.”
Mayfield said among his options for next year is possibly starting a truck team or going drag racing.
“I feel like I’ve got something to prove yet,” the 39-year-old Mayfield said. “I feel like I’ve got several years left to race.”
