Posted on Fri, Aug. 18, 2006



Mayfield blames owner, 'relationship' for struggles
Acrimony surrounding driver change on Evernham team evident in court papers
By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer

Ray Evernham already has a new driver, Elliott Sadler, in the No. 19 Dodges and Jeremy Mayfield said Thursday he has his own yet unannounced deal for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series already in place.

But court documents from Mayfield's efforts to block his firing from Evernham's team last week show that their parting was anything but amicable.

"During the 2006 Nextel Cup season, Ray Evernham has not continued to actively participate in the management and day to day activities and operations of the Team," according to the complaint filed Aug. 9.

"Instead, for significant periods of time he had been, at best, and absentee manager and owner largely because…at some point in time Ray Evernham had entered into an (sic) close personal relationship with a female driver he engages to drive on NASCAR's ARCA, Truck and Busch Series. That relationship became a subject of considerable discussion and distraction in the Nextel Cup garage area during the 2006 season."

Erin Crocker is the only female driver employed by Evernham Motorsports.

In his own affidavit, Evernham said that in the races Mayfield drove this season he "has materially and repeatedly breached the Driving Services Agreement and failed to use his best efforts to compete professionally in the Nextel Cup Series."

Debby Robinson, a spokesperson for Evernham Motorsports, said Thursday that Evernham had no comment beyond what appears in the court documents. She also said Crocker declined to comment on Thursday.

Evernham's affidavit said Mayfield had "disparaged the Evernham team and me personally" and specifically alleged that Mayfield intentionally hit the wall during the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 6.

"I watched Mayfield wreck his car early in the race," Evernham said. "He slowed dramatically to let other cars past the #19 Dodge in Turn 1 and then brushed the wall at two places. This wreck was done in a manner to damage the #19 Dodge but not harm Mayfield. Based on my experience, I believed that Mayfield's conduct in wrecking the car was on purpose. Sam Johns, my competition director, agreed with my opinion."

Mayfield denies that.

"The notion that a driver would intentionally wreck a car…is nonsensical," he said. "No driver would intentionally place himself in jeopardy by ‘hitting a wall.'"

Mayfield finished 41st in the race at Indianapolis, dropping his team out of the top 35 in car owner points. Under NASCAR rules, only teams in the top 35 in owner points are guaranteed starting spots in the subsequent race.

Mayfield made the Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2004 and 2005, finishing in the top 10 in the final standings in each of those years, but he had failed to finish better than 13th in any of the season's first 21 races.

Dale Cagle, Mayfield's business manager, said Evernham had given Mayfield permission to look for another ride and that he and Mayfield knew that Evernham was talking to Sadler about taking over in the No. 19 next season. But the intention all along, Cagle said, was for Mayfield to complete the 2006 season with his current team.

In court documents and in an interview Thursday in the Mooresville office of Mayfield Motorsports Inc., Cagle said he was notified on the afternoon of Aug. 7 that Evernham was terminating Mayfield's contract.

"You called me and said ... we could it the ‘easy' way or the ‘hard' way," Cagle said in an e-mail to Rick Russell, chief financial officer for Evernham Motorsports, dated at 12:06 p.m. on Aug. 8. "The ‘easy' way, as you explained, was for Jeremy to walk away and be paid for the month of August. The ‘hard' way was immediate termination without any further compensation.'"

Cagle said Thursday that he asked Russell for reasons for the abrupt decision and was told that Mayfield had refused to attend meetings with members of the struggling team aimed at improving the performance of its cars.

"I've been to every meeting I've ever been asked to go to," Mayfield said in a telephone interview Thursday.

The following day, Mayfield filed the request for a temporary restraining order and an injunction to prevent Evernham from putting former Cup Series champion Bill Elliott in the car for last weekend's race at Watkins Glen in New York. A hearing was held Friday, the same day Evernham told reporters at the race track that Mayfield had been "terminated." Elliott made practice laps in the car as the hearing continued.

Around 3:30 p.m., Cagle said, a ruling came down in Mayfield's favor. At that point, Cagle said, Evernham's representatives contacted him and an agreement was reached to allow Evernham to move forward with his plans while Mayfield received compensation, the terms of which Cagle declined to discuss.

Elliott drove the No. 19 in the AMD at the Glen on Sunday and finished 27th. On Tuesday, Evernham announced that Sadler would drive the car for the remainder of the 2006 season and then in 2007.

Mayfield is expected to drive a Toyota for Bill Davis Racing next season. He said Thursday that he plans to be testing Toyotas at Kentucky Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway beginning next week.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

All those rumors were true, GmaK!!

__________________
Go Junior Go. Go Smoke Go.