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Jeremy Mayfield Driver of the No. 36 360 OTC Toyota Camry
Jeremy Mayfield was just a boy when he began to express an interest in going fast. At the ripe old age of four, Mayfield spent his time riding his bicycle in circles as quickly as he possibly could. A childhood paper route gave him the opportunity to perfect his style, as he would cycle through the neighborhood at breakneck speeds, preparing himself for bike races at a local track in his hometown of Owensboro, Ky. It wasn’t long before Mayfield turned his attention to four-wheeled competition. His first foray into the world of auto racing was behind the wheel of a go-kart. Mayfield quickly advanced from karts to Street Stocks and Late Model Stock Cars and experienced a great deal of success along the way. To make ends meet as a teenager, he painted the signs at the local track and could often be found painting the numbers on his competitors’ race cars. His accomplishments on the short tracks of central Tennessee led him to move to Nashville to pursue a career in racing. Though his dreams were ultimately to sit behind the wheel, Mayfield landed a job as a fabricator at Sadler Racing. His hard work and dedication paid off about halfway through the season, when the Sadlers equipped him with a Late Model in which to compete. In 1987, Mayfield won Rookie of the Year honors at Owensboro’s Kentucky Motor Speedway. Mayfield captured another Rookie of the Year award in 1993, this time in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series. He earned eight top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes along the way. It was an exciting year for Mayfield, who also made his first start in NASCAR’s premiere series in Charlotte, N.C., driving the Sadler Brothers car to a 29th-place finish. All it took was that first taste of Cup Series competition for Mayfield to become hooked.
The following year, Mayfield competed in four races for Earl Sadler and four additional races behind the wheel of a machine owned by T. W. Taylor. After those first few races of the season, three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Cale Yarborough came calling. Mayfield jumped at the chance to drive for the legendary racer. Mayfield piloted Yarborough’s No. 98 machine in 12 races that year before embarking on his first full season of Cup Series competition in 1995. Mayfield’s first full year in the sport resulted in one top-10 finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and a 31st- place finish in the driver point standings. The ‘96 season proved better, as Mayfield picked up his first pole position at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in July and scored top-five finishes in the spring events at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. After spending the first 23 races with Yarborough, Mayfield was part of a driver swap with John Andretti. As a result, he finished the year with Michael Kranefuss Racing. Kranefuss joined forces with Roger Penske near the end of the ‘97 campaign, and Mayfield continued to race for Roger Penske through most of the 2001 season. During that time, Mayfield experienced the ultimate success in NASCAR: winning his first Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in 1998. That same season, he won two non-points event (the No Bull Sprint and the Winston Open) and finished a career-best seventh in the driver point standings. Mayfield’s tenure with both Michael Kranefuss and Penske Racing produced three wins, five poles, 31 top-five finishes and 55 top-10 finishes. Despite their success together, Mayfield and Penske parted ways near the end of the 2001 season when Mayfield received the opportunity to join Evernham Motorsports.
Ray Evernham, a former crew chief who earned three Cup Series championships with Jeff Gordon, hired Mayfield to drive the No. 19 machine beginning in 2002. Mayfield and his team finished 26th in the points standings that year after scoring a pair of top-five finishes. Things started to improve for the team in 2003. After posting one pole position and 12 top-10 finishes, including four top-five efforts, Mayfield cracked the top 20 in the championship battle. NASCAR introduced the “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” in 2004, which rewarded the top 10 in points after the first 26 races with their own points battle in the final 10 races. Mayfield’s team worked hard to obtain its spot in that battle. It came down to the final race before the Chase, and it was all up to Mayfield to ensure he didn’t lose the opportunity to compete for the title. Never one to back down to a challenge, Mayfield captured that last coveted spot in dramatic fashion, winning the September race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. He moved from 14th in points to ninth and thus secured his spot in the Chase. Mayfield’s team hoped to duplicate its success the following year and did so in fine fashion, posting one win, four top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes. Mayfield suffered only one DNF all season and again made the Chase, finishing ninth in the points battle – the second highest finish of his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career. The 2006 season did not go as well as Mayfield had hoped, and after 21 races together, Evernham and Mayfield decided to go their separate ways. Mayfield was down, but certainly not out, and when the opportunity to go racing with Bill Davis, Toyota and OTC 360 presented itself, Mayfield jumped at the chance. Mayfield competed in several NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for Billy Ballew in the last third of the season, but he spent most of his time concentrating on testing and preparing for the 2007 Cup Series campaign.
In 2007, Mayfield joins Bill Davis Racing to drive the No. 36 OTC 360-sponsored Toyota Camry for owners Bill and Gail Davis. After spending his off-season testing with crew chief Derrick Finley and the rest of his BDR crew, Mayfield is fired up about the season ahead of him. His pairing with NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series veteran Dave Blaney also has Mayfield confident that this season should be something special.
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