Mayfield Motorsports will field a No. 41 Toyota for J.J. Yeley in this weekend's Sprint Showdown, the 40-lap qualifying race for the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with Shana Mayfield the owner of record following last weekend's indefinite suspension of her husband, owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield, for a violation of NASCAR's substance abuse policy.

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I think a lot of people now are more determined to do a good job -- to step up and fill that void while Jeremy's not there.

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SHANA MAYFIELD

The Mayfields plan to file her owner's paperwork with NASCAR Competition on Tuesday morning, followed by the driver change. Crew chief Tony Furr and team manager Bobby Wooten along with their crew members compiled a "short list" of candidates Monday morning and when the Mayfields arrived, they met with the team and then, Yeley, before making their final decision.

The new owner said Yeley also would drive the car in the following weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's -- where Yeley finished a career-best second in 2007 -- and for what she and her husband hope will be a brief interlude as they resolve Jeremy Mayfield's positive drug test.

"We didn't want to be switching drivers every week," Shana Mayfield said. "The thing about J.J. that we really liked is he lives close to the shop and he came over [Monday] while we were there. He told the guys it wasn't about money -- he just wanted to race, he wanted another chance like Jeremy did when he started the team.

"That's kind of what that team's built on, that heart and soul of wanting to race, wanting second chances and wanting to do good. That's all we really care about. It's not about the fame, the glory and the money; it's just a good group of guys that want to race and J.J. really has that attitude.

"Like Tony said, you walk in our shop and there's not a lot there. Yeley's been at [Joe] Gibbs and some big places, but he said he didn't care as long as there was a race car there, a seat and a suit that he could get in and go race. That meant a lot because a lot of people think they're too good to get in a car that's not running too great, but [Yeley] believes in Jeremy and supports him and I think more than anything it was his willingness to be at the shop and help the guys, to be that person that we need to step in there every day."

Mayfield formed his team with Big Red executive Gary Smith just days before the season-opening Speedweeks 2009 and qualified for the Daytona 500. Since then the road's been rougher and the team has qualified for five of the first 11 races.

'Clear violation'

NASCAR's drug policy is an extensive search to weed out any combination of substances that affect driving performance.

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• Mayfield suspended

Yeley competed full time in the Cup Series in 2008 for Hall of Fame Racing, a Joe Gibbs Racing ally, but the team ended up outside the top 35 in the owners' standings, joined Yates Racing for 2009 and released Yeley. In NASCAR's top three series this season, Yeley's raced once in the Camping World Truck Series, starting 25th and finishing 16th for owner Ron Crosby.

Shana Mayfield said her team is intact since Mayfield got the news of a positive result for "a drug of concern" in a random test given on Friday of the Richmond race weekend, followed by his "B sample," on Mayfield's request, also testing positive. Mayfield issued a statement this past Saturday at Darlington saying he believed the positive result came from a combination of a prescription drug and an over-the-counter allergy medication.

Dr. David Black, a forensic toxicologist with Aegis Sciences Corp., the Nashville, Tenn., firm that administers NASCAR's drug screening program, has said because of the high speeds involved in NASCAR competition, "It's a big, expanded profile of drugs, and also the testing is done at very low testing limits because of a safety concern."

Mayfield said the team is staunchly backing her husband, who has raced in the Cup Series since 1993, as he attempts reinstatement.

"Everybody's been real supportive, but the mood's kind of somber, too, because Jeremy's been the leader, he's been the guy that's created this deal and he's the heart and soul of this team," Shana said after spending the better part of Monday afternoon at the team's shop. "I think a lot of people now are more determined to do a good job and to make him proud -- to step up and take a little more responsibility and fill that void while Jeremy's not there."

• Audio: Replacements announced