Nascar and Racing Jeremy Mayfield

Jeremy Mayfield is once again a free agent in the NASCAR world.

The 5-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series left his ride with Haas Racing as driver of the No. 70 car just seven races into the season in what has been described as a "mutual" situation. (Is it ever really mutual though?)

Haas plans to put Johnny Sauter in the car starting Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway.

Mayfield, who has bounced around the Sprint Cup world for the past few years making just 22 starts in 2006 and 17 in 2007, scored his best finish of the season at Las Vegas when he came home 16th. Five other races, though, saw Mayfield finish 30th or worst.

Sauter drove for the Haas team in 2006 and had some respectable runs, including a 9th-place finish a year ago at Phoenix and a 5th-place at Richmond in the fall. At the end of the season, though, Sauter was canned by the team along with teammate Jeff Green in favor of Mayfield and Scott Riggs.

I've always liked Johnny Sauter as a driver though his style can be ragged at times. If given the right equipment, Sauter can be a consistent driver inside the Top-35.

But then again, I thought Mayfield could do the same.

For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.

Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. He'll be there in 2008 as well.

For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.

Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. With the No. 36 BDR ride available (and lacking a sponsor in '08), Davis hired a pair of Craftsman Truck Series drivers with past Cup experience to finish out the year.

Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner will split those duties. Skinner gets the gig at Atlanta this weekend and then at Texas Motor Speedway while Benson will wrap up the year at Phoenix and Homestead.

With Scott Riggs already announced as a Haas CNC driver for 2007, the driver lineup will completely change at Haas with both Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter on the way out it seems.

Travis Kvapil will return to the Cup series (yea!) replacing the retiring Ricky Rudd in the #88 Chevy in 2008--or sooner. Owner Robert Yates, 64, is also retiring and will turn the reigns of the renamed Yates Racing over to son Doug at the end of this season. The Roush Yates engine partnership will continue and Doug shall strive to grow Yates into a pre-eminent team like Roush Fenway.

Stremme Latest Free Agent
Car owner Chip Ganassi doesn't really want to let David Stremme go, but since losing the Coors sponsorship he has nothing to offer the driver for next season so he has not yet picked up his option. Career stats: 2 top 10s, 8 laps led. Ouch. But ... even with the Yates and DEI opening already filled, silly season is still going strong. There'll be somebody out there looking for a little experience.

I wonder ... if I were an owner, who would look more appealing ... Stremme? or Mayfield? Eh. I'd like more choices, but ... I'm going to have to go with Mayfield, baggage and all. A mere two seasons ago, he was contending for the championship. He hasn't forgotten how to drive. But first we'd have to have a come to Jesus meeting. Then again, Stremme is probably more marketable, so ... let's make that an undecided, dependent upon sponsors.

Scott Riggs has next. David Reutimann on deck.

Parlez-vous français?
In French, it's better concealed how bad it is. In English, it's painfully obvious.

Go Fish
Big Fish Games has launched a Roush Fenway Racing-branded gaming site for RoushFenway.com. Uh ... ok?

Bill Davis Racing announced today that driver Jeremy Mayfield has decided not to return to the #36 team next year and wants to explore other opportunities.

Mayfield:

"I've been in this sport long enough to know that it takes time to bring a brand new car up to speed in what is probably the most competitive racing series in the world.

"When I made the decision to move here to BDR with an untested car and a sponsor completely unfamiliar with NASCAR, I knew it would be somewhat of a gamble. I believed then, and I believe now, that Toyota has a bright future in the Cup Series and is making progress every weekend. You only have to look at their success in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and now in the Busch Series to see where it can go.

"I think Bill will be successful in resolving the issues that have hampered the #36 team this year. But I think I have delivered what I can to the effort and looking at the total picture-what's best for me, what's best for the team-I believe this is the right time for me to consider other opportunities. I can assure you, we will do our best to build on the first half of this season and put the #36 in front in this second half of the 2007 season."

I can't be the only one wondering if Mayfield decided on his own that now was the right time to consider other opportunities or this is PR speak for, "You're outta here at the end of the season. If you want to save face, we're willing to say it was your decision."

NASCAR owner Ray Evernham finally speaks publicly about what many NASCAR insiders, readers of internet message boards and blogs, and by now most NASCAR fans have known for quite some time: He has a personal relationship with his driver Erin Crocker.

Oh, and it might have been detrimental to her career:

"I don't think it's any secret that because of the personal relationship between Erin and I it hurt her career. The proper thing to do, and something her and I would like to do, is move her to another race team. I think the girl has a lot of talent. But if I sit here and say to somebody, 'Look, she's got a lot of talent, you should sponsor her,' my credibility is not good because of the personal relationship.''

Finally, some honesty. People have doubted the existence of this relationship and questioned my credibility since I first hinted at and then confirmed the relationship between the owner, who turns 50 years old next month, and his 26-year-old driver on Answer this... in April of 2006. The couple has had a personal relationship since the fall of 2005.

Is Gillett forcing Evernham to cut Crocker loose?
Of course, it's no coincidence that Evernham is close to finalizing his deal with Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett. No doubt getting Crocker off the Evernham Motorsports driver roster was a stipulation of the deal. Gillett is to become majority owner and will look after the business side while Evernham oversees competition. Gillett probably recognizes that having employees around that sleep with the boss is usually not good for business.