Newsmakers

Arrested Former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield, barred from the association since 2009 for a failed drug test, was arrested at his western North Carolina home and charged with possession of methamphetamine, and police said Wednesday he may face more charges.

Hospitalized NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick was hospitalized on Wednesday to treat injuries he suffered when his private plane ran off the runway during a landing on Monday. Hendrick Motorsports said an evaluation in Charlotte, N.C., showed Hendrick had four broken ribs and a broken shoulder.

Announced Former NFL player-turned-actor and TV pitchman Bubba Smith died of acute drug intoxication and other conditions, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said. Autopsy results showed the 6-foot-7 Smith had high levels of the weight-loss drug phentermine in his system, coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said.

• IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter is leaving Sarah Fisher Racing to start his own team and said he plans to run a full season in 2012. The announcement comes less than a month after Carpenter won his first career race at Kentucky.

Pleaded Former professional basketball player Oliver J. Miller pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend’s brother after a cookout in Maryland. Miller, who played for the Phoenix Suns and other teams in the 1990s, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and carrying a handgun Tuesday in court in Anne Arundel (Md.) County.

Confirmed Failed drug tests administered last week were the reason Georgia’s leading rusher, Isaiah Crowell, and two other Georgia tailbacks were suspended for Saturday’s game against New Mexico State, according to two people familiar with the results.

Died Former Detroit running back Tommy Watkins, who played for the Lions in the 1960s who also excelled at returning kicks, died Saturday after an extended illness. He was 74.