In NASCAR, you tend to hear a lot about the successes of big-name drivers, but not so much about those racers who had serious struggles. Former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield is a perfect example of the latter, and while he was no Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon, he did show talent in a race car before finding himself in some trouble. Born in Owensboro, Kentucky, Mayfield grew up racing BMX bikes, before making the switch over to go-karts. By the age of 19, he moved to Tennessee and worked as a fabricator for Sadler Brothers Racing. After some time, he became their driver and took home Late Model Rookie of the Year honors in 1987, qualifying him to move up to the ARCA Series, where he was named Rookie of the Year in 1993. His first NASCAR Cup Series race took place in his Ford Thunderbird at the Mellow Yellow 500, and he brought in his first career win at the Pocono 500. Racing for nearly 15 years at NASCAR’s highest level, Mayfield racked up five wins and 96 top-10 finishes out of 433 Cup Series races. This wasn’t an easy road, however, as Mayfield was in trouble more times than not. Back in 2006, Jeremy Mayfield was let go by Evernham Motorsports and replaced by Bill Elliott. The original claim behind Mayfield’s firing was that he dropped out of the top 35 in point standings, however, with a little digging, it was uncovered that the real reason he was let go was because he made negative comments about the team owner. He stated that Ray Evernham was more focused on a developmental racer, Erin Crocker, and lacked attention toward his team. Although that was part of why Mayfield got fired, he wasn’t wrong. Three years, Evernham went on to marry Crocker, who he had been having an affair with beforehand. Mayfield’s biggest problem was the constant substance abuse violations. 2009 was a rough year for him, following a positive drug test. NASCAR didn’t say exactly what the drug was at first, but labeled it a “drug of concern.” Mayfield was suspende