NASCAR: Mayfield pins his woes on personal relationship between Crocker & Evernham

Watching Pete Shepherd's first Truck Series race a few weeks ago, I was repeatedly shocked by the driving of Erin Crocker. Bonking into the leaders as she was being passed and taking erratic lines, I kept asking myself, "What is Ray Evernham doing with her?"

Things are getting clearer after reading this story on SI.com and watching Wind Tunnel on SPEED.

Last night on Wind Tunnel, Dave Despain and Robin Miller revealed that the 'NASCAR garage' has known for months about a personal releationship between Evernham and Crocker.

The story by SI.com's Tim Tuttle includes the following:

In court papers, Mayfield said, "For significant periods of time [Evernham] has been, at best, an absentee manager and owner, largely because ... at some point in time Ray Evernham had entered into a close personal relationship with a female driver he engages to drive. That relationship became the subject of considerable discussion and distraction in the Nextel Cup garage area during the 2006 season."
"Close personal relationship"? Let's put it this way: Evernham, who turns 49 later this month, and the 25-year-old Crocker are more than friends. It's not a subject anybody likes to talk or write about -- it's taboo in the Cup garage -- but when it impacts the performance of the car, it becomes a subject in the public arena.
You wonder what Dodge officials think about Evernham's preoccupation with his Truck program. Dodge is on the outside looking in at the Chase going into Sunday's race at Michigan.
Kahne has faded to 11th, but he still has a shot to get the manufacturer into the championship hunt.