Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have retired from racing, but he remains one of the most influential personalities within the NASCAR community. Even during his racing days, he was able to look beyond the competition and gave drivers like Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski their big break in NASCAR. Most recently, he built a new platform, the Dale Jr. Download—a podcast show that features guests from the community.

Former drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics, and team owners—you name it, he had them all on his show. However, he certainly was playing with fire after inviting Jeremy Mayfield on his show, who then narrated the horrors of the toughest period of his lifetime. Mayfield was embroiled in a controversy with NASCAR after testing positive for methamphetamine on May 9, 2009, at Richmond Raceway.

Although he tried to clear his name by filing a defamation suit against NASCAR, that didn’t help his cause. In the end, he had to make a heartbreaking decision to distance himself from NASCAR and end his 17-year run abruptly. Jeremy Mayfield looked like the bad guy in the aftermath of the public feud, but he was able to get his side of the story on Dale Jr. Download. And that single appearance changed his life forever.

Jeremy Mayfield tips his hat to Dale Jr.

Going against NASCAR is indeed a huge undertaking for a sport that hasn’t tolerated drivers’ unions; a single driver challenging them in court was tough for Mayfield. Despite getting an injunction in the initial battle, he lost the case in the appeals court. Little did he know that while signing the agreement to race in NASCAR, he gave away his right to sue NASCAR.

But, despite the public feud between the driver and Mayfield, there were a lot of unknowns about why his house was raided. And where did the drugs come from? This major breakthrough came when Dale Earnhardt Jr. invited him on his show back in 2022. It was indeed shocking the way Mayfield described the details of the incidents that happened with him. After the interview, it was the first time that people started to see him differently.

“He’s been the best thing that’s happened as far as getting my story out than anywhere we’ve done. I know he probably put his b-tt on the line a little bit doing that, but I appreciate the heck out of it because it definitely changed my life as far as how people were seeing my side of the story. I hear it all the time; I get people just about everywhere I go, ‘Man, I see you on download.” Mayfield said this while speaking to Chase Holden. 

DJD has a huge following, and through this platform, Mayfield was able to share his side of the story and change the perception about him. This was indeed a good gesture by Dale Jr. to allow a controversial figure to state his defense over the whole lawsuit debacle. And Mayfield still to this day appreciates what Dale Jr. did for him.

Mayfield also shared his take on the antitrust lawsuit 23XI Racing and FRM have filed against NASCAR. Surprisingly, he even took jabs at veteran team owners like Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske.

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Jeremy Mayfield knows very well what it is like to go against a powerful entity like NASCAR. Throughout its history, the France family has always come out clean despite being in a sticky situation. Although the Jordan brand and Denny Hamlin’s influence aren’t something that NASCAR can sweep under the rug, he believes that they won’t give up that easily.

He would very much like the sport to return to normalcy but was shocked to see the likes of Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske keep their hands clean. “What Jordan and Hamlin are doing is not something that everybody in the arena hasn’t already said or seen. They all want the same thing. The other one’s just chickened out and went the wrong way. They weren’t going to stand up for themselves.”

“All the rest of the team, from Hendrick to all the way down the line. Roger and them, they don’t care; they got money. Hendrick’s got the money. But these guys, they need it; Richard Childress needs it; a lot of those teams need the money. Now you got a guy that is going to and don’t really care what you think, which is the best thing that ever happened. Because hopefully this is going to pull the sport back into normalcy,” Mayfield added.

Rick Hendrick has also spoken to this point, when he opened up about how he signed the charter deal back in September 2024. “Not everybody was happy. But in any negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want, and so I felt it was a fair deal and we protected the charters.” While Hendrick did show signs of irritation with the sanctioning body, for the most part, he proved Mayfield’s point. Hendrick has the money, and therefore he felt the deal was fair and didn’t see a point in further negotiating.

Meanwhile, Richard Childress gave another side of the story. He told Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass in October 2024, “6:37 is when it came in, and we had to sign by 12:00, or we lose our charters. I didn’t have a choice because we had to sign. I got over 400 Employees, OEM in contract, contracts with sponsors, and I gotta take care of my team.” Once again, Mayfield hit the nail on the head. Teams like RCR cannot afford to risk financial stability to bring justice for all.

This is the first time that NASCAR has been challenged by a rival that is close to or equal to their stature. The saga is going to continue throughout the 2025 season, and it will start with NASCAR appealing the injunction motion that has been granted to the teams.