Mayfield Is Job Hunting Again
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Posted by Jeremy Dunn Aug 8, 2007 |
It has been exactly a year since Ray Evernham abruptly fired Jeremy Mayfield after Mayfield went public with his frustration with the team's performance. Mayfield was replaced with Bill Elliott at Watkins Glen, and eventually Elliott Sadler.
A few weeks later, Mayfield and Bill Davis announced that they would team up for the 2007 Nextel Cup season with 360 OTC as the primary sponsor. But the season has been a disaster, and after failing to qualify for 13 of the first 21 races, Davis and Mayfield mutually agreed to part ways following the 2007 season. The writing was on the wall when Davis replaced Mayfield with Butch Leitzinger for the race at Infineon in June.
"Jeremy has done all we asked of him and more as part of what has been an enormous challenge in 2007 for the entire BDR Cup program...Add to that the challenge of facing the healthiest overall car count in years for the Nextel Cup Series, the elements involved with the top-35 watermark, as well as the education of a company that was in its first NASCAR Nextel Cup motorsports sponsorship, and it has made for some trying times for all involved," said Bill Davis.
Mayfield seemed almost relieved in his statements.
"When I made the decision to move here to BDR with an untested car and a sponsor completely unfamiliar with NASCAR, I knew it would be somewhat of a gamble. I believed then, and I believe now, that Toyota has a bright future in the Cup series and is making progress every weekend...But I think I have delivered what I can to the effort and looking at the total picture - what's best for me, what's best for the team - I believe this is the right time for me to consider other opportunities," said the 5-time Nextel Cup race winner.
At 38 years of age, time is running out for Mayfield to resurrect his career. Fortunately, there are still plenty of solid rides left to be filled for 2008. Richard Childress Racing is still considering a fourth team for 2008, DEI still has yet to name a driver for the 8 team, though Aric Almirola has emerged as the frontrunner for that ride, and it is highly doubtful that Ricky Rudd will be back with Newman/Haas/Lanigan/Yates Racing next season.
Mayfield's status for 2008 has been made public while there are still quality rides available.