Jeremy Mayfield

He finished 24th in points that season as a result of also having eleven DNFs (including six in a row).

Mayfield ended the year 26th in points.

In his first year, Mayfield had four top-tens and finished 26th in points.

One of the poles, however, was at the DieHard 500, and the car was found to have violated the rules and penalties resulted in the team earning -25 points from the race (his 126 points, earned by finishing 14th and leading a lap, were offset by the 151-point penalty NASCAR handed down).

Later, while practicing for the Brickyard 400, he crashed hard into the wall.

He suffered a concussion and was forced to miss the next two races.

Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is a former American stock car racing driver.

He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas.

He soon went to work for Sadler Brothers Racing as a fabricator, and became their driver, winning Late Model Rookie of the Year at Kentucky Motor Speedway in 1987.

In 1993, he joined the ARCA series, and was named Rookie of the Year.

Mayfield made his Cup debut in the 1993 Mello Yello 500; starting 30th and finishing 29th in the No. 95 Earl Sadler-owned Ford Thunderbird.

In 1994, Mayfield declared he would run for NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, and signed to drive the Sadler Brothers' No. 95 Ford.

He resumed his role as that team's sheetmetal man in 1995, and signed to drive the No. 02 for T.W. Taylor, for four races before completing the year in the No. 98 Fingerhut-sponsored Ford for Cale Yarborough.

He ran 20 starts in his inaugural season, his best finish a 19th at Rockingham.

In 1995, he stayed with Yarborough full-time, and had an eighth-place run at the Miller Genuine Draft 500, with a 31st-place finish in the points standings after qualifying for 27 out of 31 races.

The next season, he had two top-fives and earned his first career pole at the DieHard 500 Later that season, he and John Andretti of the No. 37 Ford owned by Michael Kranefuss and Carl Haas, negotiated to begin their next year's contracts (in each other's then rides) early.

Mayfield formally joined the Kranefuss-Haas team in 1997.

In 1999, he dropped four spots in the standings, despite twelve top-tens.

In 2000, he won four poles and two races.

Mayfield's 3rd Cup series win and his 2nd of 2000 is probably the most famous of all his wins, as he bumped Dale Earnhardt out of the lead in the last turn and then used Earnhardt's famous "Rattle his cage" line against Earnhardt in victory lane.

He began 2001 with two consecutive third-place finishes, but was released after the Protection One 400.

Rumors circulated around the garage that he had burned bridges with Roger Penske in order to sign a new deal with Ray Evernham's team.

Rusty Wallace added the next year, that he did not see head to head with Jeremy Mayfield as teammates and that they feuded several times.

In 2002, Mayfield signed to Evernham Motorsports, replacing Casey Atwood.

He improved in 2003, winning the pole at the Aaron's 499 and posting 12 top-tens, finishing nineteenth in points.

In 2004, Mayfield returned to victory lane at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 to move his team into the ninth spot in the inaugural Chase for the Cup, and finished tenth in points.

For a while, winning a race to get into the Chase was referred by the moniker "pulling a Jeremy Mayfield."

He later provided Jeremy Mayfield with a driving contract in Wallace's lower-tier team in 2005 as a sign of his regret.

In 2005, he won the GFS Marketplace 400, and finished ninth in the standings.

In 2009, he drove for his own team, Mayfield Motorsports.

On May 9, 2009, Mayfield was suspended indefinitely as both owner and driver by NASCAR following what NASCAR said was a positive test for methamphetamine.

A federal judge weighed the evidence and temporarily lifted the suspension on July 1, 2009.

On July 15, 2009, NASCAR said Mayfield had for the second time tested positive for methamphetamine after failing a random drug test on July 6.

On July 24, a federal appeals court overturned the previous injunction Mayfield had been awarded, leaving him suspended from the sport.

Mayfield began racing in his hometown of Owensboro, Kentucky, racing BMX bicycles.

He then proceeded to race go-karts at local Short tracks; moving to Nashville Speedway USA at the age of 19.

He had eight top tens, including two fifth-place runs, and finished a then career-high 13th place in points.

After the season, Carl Haas' interests in the team were sold to Penske Racing South, and the team's identity was changed, with a new number (No. 12).

Mayfield took the points lead early in the season, and won his first career race at the Pocono 500.

At the end of the season, he ranked a career best seventh in the point standings, with 1 win, 12 top five finishes, 16 top 10 finishes, and a pole.