Jeremy Mayfield's NASCAR Career Changed Forever After He Tested Positive for Meth and Accused His Stepmom of Murder

Jeremy Mayfield's NASCAR driving career spans nearly two decades. However, the 1987 Kentucky Motor Speedway Rookie of the Year's image and reputation remain marred by his questionable decisions off the track — one of which completely changed his entire life.

Jeremy Mayfield's NASCAR career

Jeremy Mayfield began his NASCAR career in 1993. He competed in 433 races, which saw him capture five wins and earn 96 top-10 finishes. His shortlist of victories includes the Pocono 500 twice (1998 and 2000).

Although the Kentucky native failed to win any of the 36 NASCAR Xfinity Series races he competed in, he celebrated five top-10 finishes. Leading up to 2009, Mayfield had a bright future and many loyal fans.

NASCAR suspended Jeremy Mayfield after testing positive for meth

The bulk of Mayfield's issues began off the track in May 2009. He received an indefinite suspension from NASCAR following a random drug screening at Richmond International Raceway, where he violated the organization's substance abuse policy.

Mayfield legally disputed the suspension, reports ESPN. He stated that a mixture of prescribed medication of Adderall and over-the-counter medicine led to a positive test result.

The court documents revealed that Mayfield admitted he took a double dosage of Claritin D and Adderall XR. However, during the urine-based test, a third drug was detected. It remained unspecified due to a May 29 gag order by North Carolina's Mecklenburg County Superior Court.

The case continued through the legal realm, with NASCAR counter-suing Mayfield's claim that his suspension occurred due to amphetamines. During that stage of the case, ESPN uncovered that the drug in question was methamphetamine.

Neither NASCAR nor Mayfield's legal team commented on the situation, given the gag order. However, things became quite controversial once the driver's stepmom became involved.

Accusations of murder toward his stepmom

The entire situation took a surprising turn after Jeremy Mayfield's stepmom, Lisa Mayfield, became involved.

Lisa stated that she saw Jeremy use methamphetamines several times in 1998. The troubled NASCAR driver disputed those allegations while saying she couldn't adopt him as an adult. Lisa withdrew her claims in August 2008 after she was arrested for trespassing and assaulting people on his property.

The entire situation led to the court dropping Jeremy's defamation case. He waived his right to sue after he agreed to participate in NASCAR events. NASCAR offered him a path back to racing if he completed the “Road to Recovery” treatment program and submitted to drug testing with a non-WADA-approved lab.

However, things took another turn in early 2011 as Jeremy accused Lisa of murdering his father, Terry Mayfield. Terry had died by suicide in 2007 from a self-inflicted gunshot. Those accusations led to a slander lawsuit, which the two settled in February 2011, with Jeremy issuing a public apology, according to UPI.

“I have previously made statements to the press in which I accused Lisa Mayfield of either murdering my father, Terry Mayfield, or being involved in a conspiracy to murder him,” the statement reads. “Those statements were made in the heat of my emotional state at the time. I now retract those statements and apologize to Lisa for having made them.”

In 2011, Jeremy received two counts of misdemeanor possession of stolen property. He had one count of possession of drug paraphernalia in 2014 after deputies found 1.5 grams of meth residue. The court dropped nearly all the charges against him after he agreed to a plea deal.

Since then, Jeremy has founded a car cleaning business and returning to racing. In May 2023, he won two races at the Grand National Super Series in North Carolina. He plans to continue racing and told Outside Groove, “It’s all I ever wanted to do and ever have done. I think about racing almost 100% of the day. I’m always trying to fit more races in.”