He Brings Horse Sense to Fontana

Kentucky Derby trainer Bob Baffert urged him to spin a doughnut after touring Churchill Downs in a NASCAR Winston Cup car Thursday, but being a Kentucky native, Jeremy Mayfield couldn’t bring himself to desecrate the hallowed course where they’ll have “the Run for the Roses” today.

“Bob wanted me to spin in the mud, but I told him if he wanted to see any doughnuts, he could drive it,” said Mayfield after arriving here Friday amid raindrops. “He said he’d stick to getting his horses ready for Saturday’s race.”

The Ford Taurus Mayfield will drive in Sunday’s California 500 at California Speedway has a Derby-inspired paint scheme, featuring a thoroughbred racing across the car’s rear quarter panels. Even Mayfield’s uniform and helmet have Derby motifs.

“I never got out of second gear,” said Mayfield, of his Churchill Downs experience. “I was worried more about scaring the horses, but they kept them away from us. We made the run between races.

“We gave them quite a contrast, though, from 700 horsepower on Thursday to one horsepower on Saturday.”

The California 500 is the only race in which the Derby car will be used. The idea sprang from a meeting of Action Performance Companies Inc., Penske-Kranefuss Racing, Mobil Oil Corp. and Churchill Downs.

“We’ve been working on it for most of a year, especially making sure we had a paint scheme that would showcase the Kentucky Derby and be acceptable to everyone,” said Michael Kranefuss, owner of the car. “The people at Churchill Downs couldn’t have been more cooperative, and I was surprised how many horse racing fans showed up at the track with T-shirts and jackets with [likenesses of] Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Jeremy and all the NASCAR drivers.”

Mayfield, who grew up in Owensboro, Ky., about two hours’ drive from Louisville, picks General Challenge to win the Derby because of his friendship with Baffert. He said one of the highlights for him was feeding the horses.

“I was so impressed there that I’m thinking of getting involved in horse racing, maybe with a piece of a horse or two,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be something if some day I had a horse in the Derby?”

He also was chosen to display the names of the Derby entries in their post-position order.

“This was a truly unique relationship in the world of sports, horse racing meets horsepower,” said David Carrico, Churchill Downs’ senior vice president. “Churchill Downs is extremely pleased to be part of the NASCAR experience with the Mobil 1 car that honors the 125th Kentucky Derby.”

Kranefuss said that a number of Churchill Downs executives planned to fly here after the Derby to attend the California 500.

Mayfield hopes that returning to California, where he qualified second and finished second last year, will jump-start his season. In nine races, he has only three top-10 finishes, his best a second to Mark Martin at Darlington Raceway.

“This is one of my favorite tracks. [Teammate Rusty Wallace] tested here a couple of weeks ago and brought back information that should help with our setup. Wherever we test, or whichever one tests, we share everything.”

On Tuesdays, the Mayfield and Wallace crews meet at team headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., to discuss preparations for the next race.

“It’s a good deal for both teams,” Kranefuss said. “We benefit from Rusty’s experience, but sometimes he has habits that are a little outmoded. Jeremy is more open-minded, and that rubs off on Rusty. Having the two of them working together has certainly paid off.”

Two-car teams have become a way of life in Winston Cup. The top 10 drivers in the standings are all members of multiple-car teams. Not since Earnhardt in 1994 has a one-driver team won the championship.

“It’s hard to explain, but we feel our car and our team is better prepared this year than it was last, but we don’t have the results to show for it,” Mayfield said. “We still feel good about the rest of the season. We’re just short on points.”

Mayfield is 14th, which is where he will start Sunday if qualifying is rained out again today, as it was Friday.

“Considering how we’ve been qualifying, that might not be too bad,” he said wryly.

In the last four races, Mayfield has not started higher than 27th.