Jeremy Mayfield returns this weekend to the scene of the crowning moment of his Nextel Cup career.

This is the third year of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, but if the format lasts 50 years, there might never again be anything as dramatic as Mayfield’s victory in the 26th race of the 2004 season. That win propelled Mayfield from outside the top 10 to within the inaugural Chase field.

He came back again in 2005 and qualified for the Chase, once more surprising the “experts.” Although he was not able to mount a strong bid for the championship in either of those 10-race playoffs, being in the battle is an accomplishment he’s very proud of.

As the circuit comes to Richmond, Va., for the first time in 2006, Mayfield finds himself struggling to hold on to a slot among the top-35 teams guaranteed to race each weekend.

While teammate Kasey Kahne, the defending champion in Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400, is off to a tremendous start, Mayfield’s No. 19 Dodge had not finished in the top 15 this season until getting a 13th Monday at Talladega, Ala., and is 32nd in the Cup standings.

Mayfield’s fans are angry, demanding answers as to why team owner Ray Evernham can have Kahne doing so well while their favorite driver is floundering.

But you’re not hearing that from Mayfield, at least not publicly.

“We’ve been down before, but we’ve been able to come back,” said Mayfield, a 36-year-old driver from Owensboro, Ky., who is 10 races short of his 400th Cup start. “We had a great car at Daytona and got in a wreck and it set us back. We had a decent car at Atlanta and cut a right front tire down. We blew a motor at Martinsville (Va.). That’s three races that just killed us.

“It looks a lot worse than it has really been. It’s not the team chemistry as much as it is bad luck, too. Our deal is we’ve got a lot of new people.”

Indeed, Evernham moved Kenny Francis from Mayfield’s team in October and made him team director for Kahne. Chris Andrews took over as director of Mayfield’s team, and there was significant shuffling among the members of those teams as well as a third that worked on Bill Elliott’s part-time effort.

Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, prepares to drive during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Auto Club 500 practice on February 24 2006 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Evernham has added a third full-time team for Scott Riggs, and the car owner has said cars his team has built since last season have seemed to fit Kahne’s driving style better than Mayfield’s. Evernham has promised to try giving Mayfield the feel he’s looking for in a car, and Mayfield says part of getting to that point is to figure out what that is.

“Chris and I have started to come together,” Mayfield said. “It hasn’t showed up yet, but it’s better than it was a couple of weeks ago as far as him understanding what I like and me understanding how he does things on the car.

“I think what has hurt us is a little bit of luck and chemistry. I get all the help I want. It’s just a matter of applying it to the race car.

“We’re searching around quite a bit. We know what our teammates have got in their cars, and they know what we’ve got. It’s just about getting the most out of your equipment, and so far we haven’t got the most out of ours yet.

“The car is sitting there and it’ll run fast. We’ve just got to get all of it out of the car.”

Before the season, Mayfield was telling anybody who’d listen that he felt better about going into the year than he ever had before.

These days, he’s realistic about how far short things have fallen.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you we’re going to be in the Chase now,” he said. “We’re going to do our best, and that’s all we can do. I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to roll over. If we can come back and win a race or two this year and finish in the top 20 in points or top 15, then I’m happy with that.”

Mayfield said he felt his team had a good test at Richmond last month. And when he needed it the most in September 2004, the three-quarter mile track was very good to him.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t pull another one out of the hat,” Mayfield said.