NASCAR's Silly Season Gets Really Silly

Coupla things for your Tuesday...

NASCAR wants an independent evaluation of Jeremy Mayfield. They've asked a federal judge to administer a mental and physical evaluation to see if he has a substance abuse problem or ADHD.

NASCAR filed three affidavits from three friends of Mayfield's who know him from Kentucky. Barry Lee, Michael Buskill and Steven Russelburg all testified to witnessing Mayfield use methamphetamine.

Lee said he first witnessed Mayfield use methamphetamine in 1999 in the garage, at his home and on his boat, and saw the driver use at least 50 more times through 2000. His affidavit said Mayfield was driving him to Lowe's Motor Speedway in 1999 when he pulled over, said "you want to hit one?" and snorted methamphetamine off a mirror.

Ruskill, who said he lived on Mayfield's property from 2006 to 2007, also claimed to have witnessed Mayfield use methamphetamine.

"During that time, I frequently saw Jeremy use methamphetamine, almost on a daily basis," Russelburg said. "Most of the time this occurred at a barn on the property that had been converted to a shop."

He also testified that Mayfield stated he did not want his wife, Shana, to know about his drug use.

Neat...

Item 2: What if your crew chief couldn't be around the shop, but he could still be your crew chief through the sprint to the Cup...???

Ask Pat Tryson- Kurt Busch's crew chief...

Tryson is moving to Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of this season, so Penske Racing does not want him present during any preparations for 2010.

"They want me to focus on this year's stuff and they've got stuff going on at the shop for next year, so they're going to work on that," Tryson said before Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I'll be communicating by e-mail and phones, and I'll be in there for driver debrief on Tuesdays.

"Tuesday is the only day I'm welcome."

That'll win you a title...

Item 3: Would you race for free...??? Reed Sorenson, apparently, is...

Before the Loudon race, ESPN's Marty Smith confirmed that Richard Petty Motorsports came to Sorenson half-way through the year and asked him to do one of two things- race for no salary or take a buyout and go home...

"They didn't really have much justification for it," Sorenson told Smith. "They basically just said, 'This is the deal we have, but you've done nothing wrong. We feel bad.' But it sucked. I don't really get it. It never made sense when it was going down, and it doesn't make sense now.

"I definitely didn't envision them coming to me halfway through this year and saying this. I felt like I was moving to a team where I could make a home and work with new teammates and maybe be there for five years or whatever it might be.

"I didn't even get halfway through the year, and this comes up. Then I was told I haven't done anything wrong at the same time. So that's the most sickening thing about it."

Those of us at OSG HQ are now rooting openly for Sorenson for the rest of the year. We hope he gets some kind of hybrid ride for the '10 season...