Mayfield's Lawyer: NASCAR Mistaken

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Suspended and embattled Sprint Cup driver and team owner Jeremy Mayfield has picked up a lawyer in his bid for NASCAR reinstatement, and the attorney feels the evidence in favor of his client is quite compelling.

"Somebody is going to have to come forward and acknowledge that, well, we thought we did what we were supposed to do, maybe we made a mistake, let's try it again," said Mayfield's attorney Bill Diehl, suggesting NASCAR's next step in the process that has suspended the driver indefinitely from the sport during an interview on Sirius Speedway Wednesday.

Given history has yet to show a single lawyer not confident in a coming case, the factors seem to making the case for Mayfield's reinstatement a little brighter.

In the last week, we've heard Mayfield talking about how NASCAR didn't fully disclose to him right away what exactly he tested positive for, about possible inconsistentcies with testing a primary and backup drug test in the same lab, character witnesses completely in disbelief that Mayfield would ever be a drug abuser and Mayfield's outright denial of the abuse.

As a result, it seems like Diehl is looking more at how NASCAR has run Mayfield's name through the mud -- an indication that he's pretty confident in evidence clearing Mayfield of drug abuse.

"I read a report where Mr. France gratuitously announced that the serious recreational drug use by Mr. Mayfield was very difficult, very bad and they weren't going to tolerate it," said Diehl during the interview. "Accusing somebody that's driving a race car a couple hundred miles an hour of serious recreational drug use, that's probably not too good thing to say about him. Especially if it's not true."

Diehl, it seems, is prepared to not only clear Mayfield's name, but also seek compensation from the sport for severely harming Mayfield's reputation as a driver in team owner.

Regardless, the situation is just plain ugly. Either way, neither party can really win at this point.

If Mayfield clears his name, he'll still have casual fans wondering about the rampant news reports tying him to recreational drug use. NASCAR in that case will be forced to seriously evaluate its newly instated drug policy and take a black eye for a PR hit.

On the other hand, Mayfield's case could fall short leaving the team owner in a situation where not only will landing sponsorship for his self-owned team be a tough measure, but also he'll be forced to attend rehab before begging NASCAR -- the same NASCAR he has now brutally fought against that can be quite political to teams who have rubbed it the wrong way -- to allow him back in the sport.

Either way, this Mayfield deal is nasty, ugly and a downright trouble for the sport.