Mayfield claims Evernham's absence hurt team
SCENEDAILY - 2:24PM ET WEDNESDAY AUGUST 16, 2006 - BY BOB POCKRASS - ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jeremy Mayfield claims in court documents that team owner Ray Evernham's "close personal relationship" with development driver Erin Crocker distracted his team and kept the owner from being an instrumental part of the No. 19 Nextel Cup team, whose struggles this year eventually led to Mayfield's firing.
Mayfield made that allegation in his lawsuit against Evernham Motorsports filed Aug. 9 in North Carolina Superior Court in Iredell County after Evernham Motorsports informed Mayfield Motorsports Inc. on Aug. 7 that Mayfield would not drive the car in the Aug. 13 race at Watkins Glen. Evernham responded in an affidavit that he has worked diligently to make sure that the No. 19 team had the personnel and resources to be successful.
In the complaint filed with the court, Mayfield and Mayfield Motorsports Inc., which handles the driver's business affairs, claim: "For significant periods of time [Evernham] has been, at best, an 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."
Dale Cagle, business manager for Mayfield Motorsports Inc., said in his affidavit that leadership and support from Evernham was instrumental to the team.
"During the 2006 season, however, apparently because he was preoccupied by his personal relationship with a female driver Evernham engaged to drive on the ARCA, Busch and Truck Series, Ray Evernham has not been actively involved or engaged in the affairs or operation of the team," Cagle said in his affidavit.
The complaint does not name Crocker, but she is the only female driver employed by Evernham in those series. It does not define "close personal relationship."
Evernham did not address that in his affidavit filed in the case.
Both sides say they have settled the case, but it was still listed as "pending" in the court system Tuesday morning.
An Evernham Motorsports spokesperson said Wednesday that Evernham would not comment on his personal life. Cagle, Mayfield's business manager, did not return a phone call seeking comment on the suit.
"My effort this year on behalf of Evernham Motorsports and all my teams, including the No. 19 Dodge team, has represented my best efforts," Evernham says in an affidavit, adding that he has taken only eight days off this year and had been to 18 of the 21 Nextel Cup races that Mayfield participated in.
Evernham's other teams have performed much better than Mayfield. Kasey Kahne has four wins and sits 11th in points. Scott Riggs is 22nd in points.
Mayfield is being replaced by Elliott Sadler, who is leaving Robert Yates Racing to join the No. 19 team this weekend at Michigan.
Mayfield is one of only seven drivers to have made the Chase in its first two seasons, but he was mired in 34th in points this year before his termination by Evernham Motorsports.
In his affidavit, Evernham stated that Mayfield breached their contract, in part, because Mayfield "failed to use his best diligent efforts to compete professionally in the Nextel Cup Series" and "Mayfield disparaged the Evernham team and me personally."
Evernham said that Mayfield inexplicably pitted late in the Pocono race July 23 because of a flat tire that turned out to have nothing wrong with it. He also said that Mayfield brushed the wall at Indianapolis and "based on my experience, I believed that Mayfield's conduct in wrecking the car was on purpose."
The wreck relegated Mayfield to a 41st-place finish at Indianapolis and dropped the team out of the top 35 in owners points, meaning the team was not automatically qualified for the next event.
Mayfield countered that no driver would ever wreck a car on purpose because of the possibility of injury, and he found it "terribly distressing" that anyone would suggest he wasn't giving a full effort. He said that it is not unusual for a driver to feel a tire is going down only to find out it wasn't flat.
"If I have been 'tanking' the performance of the car, it must have started with the first race of the season because car performance has been equally terrible all year," Mayfield says in his affidavit. "The cars have not been good, and the engines, particularly recently, have been weak."
Later, Mayfield says, "If anyone is 'tanking' the No. 19 car, it is Evernham Motorsports." He said the team did not listen to his suggestions on setups during the Indianapolis weekend.
The rift between the two dates back to the end of last season when Mayfield said that while he publicly supported Evernham's move, he was "stunned by the decision" for his crew to go to Kahne for 2006 and "it's been a disaster since."
Evernham said the move was necessary to help Mayfield.
"Mayfield, however, has not interacted well with other personnel on his team at Evernham Motorsports and has had five crew chiefs in five years because of his inability to get along with them," Evernham stated in his affidavit.
The rift between owner and driver erupted at the Chicago race weekend July 10-12, when Mayfield said he had not seen a lot of Evernham lately despite the team's struggles. The two appeared at a joint news conference two days after Mayfield's remarks to diffuse the situation.
According to the affidavits, Mayfield's comments were one of the reasons for Mayfield's firing because he was not permitted to say disparaging things about the team.
http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2006/08/14/scene_daily32.html