The Painful Truth

By Edward Rose

There’s an old saying that goes like this “The truth hurts”. Unfortunately for most of us, we know it to be true. Many of us go about our lives doing what we do either by habit or by design, good or bad. Then, when someone points out an eccentricity or fault in our character it cuts you to the core and really hurts. Many emotions are stirred, you feel like you’ve been attacked, you’re defensive and suddenly you are justifying your actions. In my view, this describes the behavior of Ray Evernham on the issue of being pre-occupied with a female member of his race organization, as suggested by ex-employee Jeremy Mayfield.

I know Jeremy to be a straight up guy; as honest as they come. He’s a Kentucky boy who ‘Calls ‘em as he sees ‘em.”. He says what’s on his mind, right or wrong. No hidden agenda, no mind games, just in your face, down home honesty. This is the way every mother wants their son to grow up. So when Jeremy says Ray Evernham was pre-occupied with activities other than the #19 team’s performance, I believe him.

I am not suggesting that Evernham is dishonest, but simply unable to recognize the facts. His reaction is typical; defend himself at all costs. Let’s see: he fired Jeremy after the All State 400 at the brickyard, indirectly. Where was Ray’s intestinal fortitude? He’s the owner, the boss, the guy making all the important decisions and signing pay checks. So when it comes to firing a driver, Evernham chooses to do it all the cowardly way. I’m sure he got his people to call Mayfield’s people. Evernham could have taken lessons from Mayfield and said “Jeremy your performance sucks this year. Let’s talk about it and try to fix it.” As far as I can tell, there was no talking or fixing, just firing.

This entire ugly episode has really got me wondering about Ray. I used to like him a lot when he was Jeff Gordon’s crew chief, but now I have to question his logic. Consider this: for the last two years Jeremy made the chase, not Kasey Kahne. So in his wisdom Ray moves Jeremy’s entire crew to the #9 car. This results in Kahne hovering around just outside the chase and Mayfield prior to his firing somewhere south of 35th place.

While this is going on, Ray is also brining on another cup team with Scott Riggs and developing Erin Crocker for some future spot in the Busch Series. So tell me, Ray wasn’t just a little bit unfocused this year. Developing new talent is okay, as is admitting you were spread out too thin this year. If Ray had actually been around this year and actually listened he would have heard a rising level of frustration in Jeremy’s voice and words. He may have noticed that Jeremy and his crew chief never really jelled as a team. And finally, if Ray were around he could have heard the honesty and directness from Mayfield’s mouth.

But wait, there’s one more thing: The icing on the cake. Ray replaces Jeremy with Elliott Saddler. Another Southern boy, only this southern boy on paper is not better than Jeremy. In fact he’s been beaten by Mayfield in every area: wins, poles, top 5’s etc. Somebody explain the logic to me, I need to understand this move. Don’t get me wrong, I like Elliott Saddler but let the statistics do the talking. If Jeremy was fired for poor performance why would Evernham hire a driver with equally poor performance? Anyone??

Finally, there is a silver lining in this big black cloud. Jeremy had his day in court and won. He landed in a great organization with Bill Davis Racing, a new car in the Toyota Camry and a new sponsor in 360 OTC. All seems to have ended well enough, but only time will tell. I predict that next year Jeremy will finish ahead of all the Evernham Motorsports teams. Mark my words; you heard it here first race fans!

Edward M. Rose is the author of the book entitled, "The Un-Official NASCAR Fan Guide.

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