Mayfield regrets decisions when he was 'young and dumb'

[Jonesi]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7144972

[RaikkonenRules]

I don't see Mayfield getting a ride next year somehow. He should have just stuck it out with the #36.

[RaikkonenRules]

Mayfield should have just get going with the #36 team. I don't see him getting a ride next year.

[Sparky1329]

Jeremy burnt a lot of his bridges over the years. If he gets a ride next year he should thank his lucky stars.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I always liked the guy, but he wore out his welcome with Penske, and he did it when he didn't like what he saw with Evernham and his GF, and I think he is getting a bit of a bad rap. Of course, his wife has shot her mouth off a bit, and I don't think that goes over well in the land of NASCAR. The women are to be seen, not heard I think in the eyes of many, and that may be part of the problem....

[RaceFanStan]

Jeremy Mayfield has never really impressed me as a driver, I feel he has modest driving talent .....
Mayfield not always been a happy camper in Cup & he has been very vocal .....
I like drivers who AREN'T politically correct & speak their mind .....
however Jeremy has not always had his facts straight IMO .....

at Penske Racing, Mayfield was the "2nd driver" but he wanted to steal the show from Rusty (DUMB !!!) .....
Jeremy Mayfield didn't understand the TEAM concept & wasn't happy with team-mate Rusty Wallace .....

at Evernham MotorSports, Jeremy was much too vocal about his bosse's "play time" with his employee,
Jeremy should have been happy that Ray wasn't wanting to play with him & kept his mouth shut .....
Jeremy Mayfield didn't understand what "TEAM Loyalty" meant & for that he was FIRED .....

this year Mayfield lands with Bill Davis Racing who is trying to get a new manufacturer up to speed .....
struggles getting the Toyota up to speed were to be expected & missed races a definate possibility .....
instead of working hard to turn things around, JERK Jeremy wants to leave the team .....
to me this questions his determination for success & if he even merits a ride in Cup racing .....

Jeremy Mayfield's motto should be "when the going gets tough, the weak run away" http://www.motorsportforum.com/forums/images/icons/tongue-anim.gif

[muggle not]

Ok, Jeremy made some dumb decisions when he was young. He should remember though that dumb decisions can also be made when older.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Stan, you are not wrong. It does seem Jeremy's mouth gets him eventually driven out, but I still think his wife is an influence. I do know that he messed up a good thing at Evernham....

[dont_be_jack]

I think he can't drive a damn car. He had great cars his last year in the 19 and he could've continued out with that season, but he sucks at driving a race car now. I really hope he doesn't get a ride again because there are much better drivers who care on their way up.

[Sparky1329]

Stan, you are not wrong. It does seem Jeremy's mouth gets him eventually driven out, but I still think his wife is an influence. I do know that he messed up a good thing at Evernham....

His wife is no smarter than he is so dumping on her is a misguided effort. Neither of them know the definition of decorum or discretion and therein lies the problem. In addition to that he wasn't married to Shana when he drove for Penske so you can't pin that wrap on her. Stan is absolutely correct.

[tstran17_88]

at Penske Racing, Mayfield was the "2nd driver" but he wanted to steal the show from Rusty (DUMB !!!) .....
Jeremy Mayfield didn't understand the TEAM concept & wasn't happy with team-mate Rusty Wallace ....I don't disagree with you, but I'd like to point out that Rusty wasn't the easiest teammate to get along with, so I can't fault Jeremy 100% here.

[Sparky1329]

I don't disagree with you, but I'd like to point out that Rusty wasn't the easiest teammate to get along with, so I can't fault Jeremy 100% here.

A-fricken-men.

[geek49203]

Jeremy Mayfield might indeed have talked himself out of 2 premium rides. Certainly, he broke a lot of unspoken rules and lost lots of trust when he outed Ray's affair w/ Erin, a story that hadn't been published to that point, even though it was well-known in the press room for months. And, certainly he should be glad that the Michigan press never made a big deal when he was stopped for speeding in a drug- and prostitute-infested area in Jackson, far away from the path between his corporate appearance and the track.

However, the current situation at Bill Davis Racing might be a bit beyond Jeremy's control, largely due to sponsorship woes.

360 OTC http://www.360otc.com is one of those strange animals where a bunch of execs form a holding company to buy out their company (Rockford-Mongomery Labs / IBAC) they've run it into the ground. From the press hype, it is obvious that 360 OTC saw itself as a marketing company of the products of the old Rockford-Mongomery Labs. They moved their headquarters into the same building as their ad agency, Air Sea & Ground, which fancied itself as a sports marketing company. Soon, OTC 360 sponsored Bill Davis Racing in NASCAR (1 each in Cup and Truck), bought massive blimp ads at big events, supported a sizable charity effort, sponsored Wrestlemania 23, and a underwrote division of the World of Outlaws.

The first sign of trouble came in April when the World of Outlaws Late Models announced that it was dumping OTC 360, saying that OTC 360 was "...not able to live up to its responsibilities and obligations and we are effectively ending the sponsorship."

Soon thereafter, the stock (tsxt) tanked as the marketing hype failed, and is now at 18 cents a share, down from $16.80 last November (ouch!). The company is currently looking for "private placement" investment. Michelle Shearer, CEO of OTC 360, posted this on her blog, http://www.tsxtstock.com/, on July 24:

"We are currently re-evaluating our marketing plan since it has been six months from our launch... Most people have seen the logo either on the Airship, Jeremy Mayfield’s #36 Nextel Cup Car or Wrestlemania, however, they may have not made the connection to the product. We have failed to sample at these events to solidify that 360 OTC is a brand dedicated to hangover relief."

In other words, their old ad agency had no clue what they were doing when they did those marketing deals, and they didn't work. Now they're frantically looking for a way to bail themselves out as their market cap falls from $3 million to $540,000 in 2 months' time. Bottom line for NASCAR's Bill Davis Racing is that there is no way OTC 360 can be primary sponsor of a Cup car with a market cap of $540,000.

So, while I don't make Jeremy to be a saint, we can't put this driver change on Jeremy's shoulders.