By BILL WHITEHEAD, Scripps Howard News Service

Last weekend was simply an audition for Jeremy Mayfield. It was as if Mayfield were sitting in a hallway outside a rehearsal studio, then a woman popped her head out and said, "Mr. Mayfield? You're next."

Like a pitcher reaching back for his favorite off-speed pitch with the tying run on base or a football team using its best running back on a key fourth-down to get a win, Matt Kenseth is hoping to use Dover International Speedway to get something he hasn't had in a while.A little boost to a lagging season.

Earlier this week in a moment of sheer honesty -- and maybe a little bit of hyperbole -- 2004 Nextel Cup champion driver Kurt Busch admitted that he was glad this Sunday's race started late in the afternoon and ended deep into the evening.

A hat has been passed around NASCAR and stock car racing from generation to generation. Sized and fitted by fans, media and other drivers, it's handed out to the racer who is a talented hotshot but who is also out there on the fringe and hated by many.

I don't know about you, but I find the post-race interviews to be one of the best parts of a NASCAR race, especially when there's an incident that directly affects the race's outcome.That being said, I was somewhat surprised, maybe even dismayed a bit, by the casual comments of Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In this day of "bigger is better," nothing gets any bigger -- at least on the NASCAR circuit -- than Talladega Superspeedway, where 43 drivers will tackle the most torturous, gut-wrenching race track in stock-car racing.Want some examples of how the "bigger" theme comes into play this weekend in north central Alabama? Here are a few:

At Speedweeks last year while passing through the garage, Petty Enterprises vice president Robbie Loomis joked with me about how cold it can get in Florida in February, despite the protests of those from the North who claim it never really gets cold in the Sunshine State, at least not enough to cause any complaints.

From 1972-2004, NASCAR's Sprint Cup race schedule had a neat quirk in it -- the series raced at Martinsville Speedway then headed south to Talladega Superspeedway. The only exception was in 1997 when the road course in Sonoma, Calif., was inserted between the two Southern dates, breaking up that oddity.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Five races into the 2008 season, the most surprising story so far isn't who won the Daytona 500 (Ryan Newman), who has won the most often (Carl Edwards), who is winning the points (Kyle Busch), what foreign automaker finally won (Toyota) or who has had the best winning combo (Richard Childress Racing's 1-2-3 showing at Bristol).

I received five identical e-mails from Goodyear last Monday. Now I'm sure this is probably a glitch in the tire maker's email delivery system, but after the firestorm Tony Stewart set off Sunday afternoon, I might believe Goodyear was just trying to get its point across to me.