Last month a familiar face visited victory lane — Jeremy Mayfield. He won both twin races during the Grand National Super Series event at Tri-County Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina. With his NASCAR Cup career long in his rear-view mirror, Mayfield still possesses the competitive spirit to race.
“Racing feels good — it’s what I love to do, even though I don’t do it as much as I used to,” Mayfield, now 53, said. “It is cool to go racing and win — no, it is actually a pretty awesome feeling.”
Jeremy Mayfield Still Loves It
Mayfield has won four times in the Grand National Super Series. On that tour he races for Bob Schacht, who is best known for his ARCA driving career. Mayfield has on occasion picked up rides in pavement modifieds. Now he’s building a dirt late model with Train Chassis to race later this season. There’s no questioning Mayfield’s passion for the sport.
“I’ve raced some type of car every year since I left NASCAR,” said Mayfield. “I like racing on both pavement and dirt. They are two different deals for me. Asphalt racing is like second nature to me. Dirt is more of a challenge.”
Driving race cars is what Mayfield has done since he was 15 years old.
“Racing is important to me,” Mayfield said. “In general, I know more about racing than anything else in life. It’s all I ever wanted to do and ever have done. I think about racing almost 100% of the day. I’m always trying to fit more races in.”
Mayfield said he has 10 to 12 pavement races and at least five dirt late model races planned for 2023. However, he remains open to adding more events to his schedule.
“You never know when an opportunity to drive will arise,” said Mayfield. “Who knows? If an offer comes through, I’ll be running.”
From Top of the World to the Bottom
Jeremy Mayfield won five NASCAR Cup Series races over the course of 17 years. He last competed in the series in 2009. Mayfield’s NASCAR career ended after a dispute with the sanctioning body about how they conducted their drug tests.
“I miss driving Cup cars a lot,” Mayfield said. “I miss it more than ever now. But I don’t miss the politics and the things that go on that don’t pertain to racing.”
After that, he had a brush-in with the law, which eventually ended with Mayfield agreeing to a plea deal, pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges of stolen goods and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia in 2014. Mayfield put in an Alford plea, which means the defendant admits there is enough evidence to convict but they do not necessarily admit guilt for those crimes.
Mayfield chocks up those years as a learning experience and has long put those troubles behind him.
“I learned a lot about life and learned it real quick,” said Mayfield. “I learned how to survive when the rug is pulled out from under you, and you hit the ground. Thing is, I’m not one to just lay there.”
The Renaissance of Jeremy Mayfield
Mayfield now operates a car cleaning business, offering products to auto detailing shops as well as traveling with a service truck. Mayfield claims he also has made amends with several people. That includes his former NASCAR Cup car owner, Ray Evernham, whom had a very public spat with.
“I don’t have problems with anyone now,” said Mayfield. “Everything is behind me. I’m good with Ray [Evernham] now. I moved on and I am over it all. The future looks as bright as it can be for me.”
Mayfield, who once had a legion of fans at his peak, aid he’s now building a fan base once again.
“I’m not a murderer — I had trouble with a couple of people in NASCAR,” Mayfield said. “I’ve got a lot of fans behind me.”
Jeremy Mayfield has a lot of good going on in his life nowadays. He’s still racing, which he loves, but he also longs for one more chance at arena in which he earned national fame.
“I’d love to go back [to NASCAR],” said Mayfield. “There is always hope, but they probably wouldn’t allow that. They need a good story right now … but they would have to make it happen.”
The Outside Groove Director of Photography has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
