Sprint Cup drivers question ruling in Jeremy Mayfield case

[Schwartz Fan]

Sprint Cup drivers question ruling in Jeremy Mayfield case

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR drivers wondered aloud how Jeremy Mayfield won an injunction to return to the sport following his positive drug test result, but most stopped short of saying they feared for their safety Thursday during interviews from Daytona International Speedway.

Drivers also revealed that NASCAR has since enhanced its testing procedure since Mayfield’s suspension was announced in early May.

On Wednesday, Mayfield convinced a federal court to give him an injunction that would allow him to drive and own a NASCAR team again, though he was unable to secure a ride for Daytona.

Ryan Newman said it was “not cool” that the judge’s ruling permitted Mayfield to return to the track and suggested that perhaps the judge didn’t understand the gravity of the positive test in relation to racing.

“The situation we have when somebody tests positive is something to be seriously considered,” Newman said. “There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with that.”

He added: “People make mistakes, I just hope the judge didn’t make one.”

Similarly, Kasey Kahne said he didn’t “have a clue how Jeremy got out of this, but he did.”

“If he’s on the track, I’ve got to race with him,” Kahne said.

Jeff Burton noted that while the judge awarded Mayfield an injunction, that didn’t mean NASCAR had lost its case or was wrong.

“What the judge said was … the result can be questioned, but the judge didn’t say the result is wrong,” Burton said, “and while it’s being questioned, what do we do about it?”

Burton said he would agree with the judge’s ruling if there was an instant test to determine if a driver was clean or not. But given that it takes several days to process test results, Burton said it could be a safety concern.

“I deserve to 100 percent know that he is 100 percent clean,” he said. “He should be tested soon enough, early enough, often enough to where he can never be on the race track while using drugs.”

Burton said he sympathized with the judge for having to make a tough ruling.

“He potentially puts my safety in jeopardy by that decision; the other decision puts Jeremy’s career in jeopardy,” he said. “So what do you do? There’s almost not a right answer.”

Meanwhile, Kahne revealed that when he underwent a routine drug test at Sonoma, the process had grown more intensive. He said earlier in the season, drivers had to provide a sample and sign their name without doing much more.

Now, he said, drivers must initial that they approved many steps in the testing process – along with the person taking the sample – and fill out a form with 20 questions, which has made the test grow from five to 10 minutes to about 40.

“There’s more into the process, so there’s no way around it,” Kahne said.

While NASCAR hasn’t changed the policy, it has made things more consistent over the last month in terms of how many verification forms drivers sign during the testing process, NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said in response to Kahne’s comments.

He said it did not have as much to do with the Mayfield lawsuit as it did for making things consistent from track to track and the person who administers the test. NASCAR uses different people, depending on the location of the race that weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya confirmed Kahne’s account that the testing has grown more complex since the start of the season.

While Newman said it would be a concern if he started the race next to Mayfield’s car (“I’d wonder about the first lap,” he said), both Kahne and Kyle Busch noted that racing with Mayfield was not an issue to them.

Said Kahne: “I never raced with Jeremy, even at the start of the year. He’s at one end, I’m at the other.”

“Normally we’re ahead of him anyway,” Busch said.

Burton said his research into drug testing shows there are “very few cases where you can go back and say the test was inaccurate.” The problem is, NASCAR’s policy may have had a loophole that needs to be closed.

“The judge didn’t rule the testing was wrong – that’s what’s different about this thing,” Burton said. “We have to look at the policy and figure out how it cannot be questioned again.”


Sprint Cup drivers question ruling in Jeremy Mayfield case - Sprint Cup Series | NASCAR Racing News - SceneDaily.com

[24n48fan]

Jeremy Mayfield has made things very difficult for everyone since his failed test. Now because of him, drug testing has become more of a pain in the thorn of drivers' sides with those questionaires and etc. Seems like Jeremy Mayfield wants to make life a living hell for everyone but hey, it's no one else's fault that his career sucks but his own. Like I said, Jeremy Mayfield is a certified idiot.

[klemmabyna]

a couple of comments:

i still believe in innocent until proven guilty.

and i believe jeff burton (no surprise here) has the best grasp of the situation.

NASCAR's procedure, from chain of custody, to a referee sample that is to be made available for testing at a second lab of the driver's choice,... well let's just say they did it wrong.

background: i'm very familiar with the concept. and when you are dealing with someone's livelyhood, you better dot all the "i"'s and cross all the "t"'s.

do i think jeremy's innocent? doesn't really matter. and i think that is what the judge said today. my opinion is the judge's ruling only said that no penalty should be in force until the governing body proved that they had followed their own procedures, and that those procedures were foolproof enough to not only protect the interests of the other competitors, but also the rights of anyone that may have been brought into question.

last call: this has been ugly. first a positive test. then the questionable credentials of an "expert" witness. then nascar's failure to provide a referee sample. let alone a list of prohibitive substances. regardless of how this turns out, the one with egg on it's face has to be nascar.

how can an organization this large, both financially, and publicly, bungle something this badly, especially considering that most of the groundwork in this area had already been done.

parting shot: jeff burton, once again, proves he is far more than a racecar driver.

jmo.

[Blakr]

Originally Posted by klemmabyna ...the one with egg on it's face has to be nascar. how can an organization this large, both financially, and publicly, bungle something this badly, especially considering that most of the groundwork in this area had already been done.

I couldn't agree more. nascar is used to bulldozing their way through everything because they don't have to answer to anyone.
In this case however, nascar does have to answer to a higher power, and it's been shown that once again nascar blew it.

[Blakr]

Burton said he would agree with the judge’s ruling if there was an instant test to determine if a driver was clean or not. But given that it takes several days to process test results, Burton said it could be a safety concern.

There are drug tests that give an instant result, and don't have to be sent off to a lab for the results.

[EsEs]

Originally Posted by 24n48fan Jeremy Mayfield has made things very difficult for everyone since his failed test. Now because of him, drug testing has become more of a pain in the thorn of drivers' sides with those questionaires and etc. Seems like Jeremy Mayfield wants to make life a living hell for everyone but hey, it's no one else's fault that his career sucks but his own. Like I said, Jeremy Mayfield is a certified idiot.

Yup, you nailed it.....Jeremy's goal all along was to make the testing procedure longer and make life a living hell for his fellow competitors.

If you think that every driver out there is clean, you are sadly mistaken. So his career sucks, but that doesn't give NASCRAP the right to blackball the guy IF he had a false positive.

[24n48fan]

Pssst.......show me where I said every driver is clean.............I mean seriously show me!!!

[24n48fan]

I'd be willing to bet that Jeremy Matfield is the dirtiest driver out there!

[EsEs]

Originally Posted by 24n48fan Pssst.......show me where I said every driver is clean.............I mean seriously show me!!!

I don't see you posting anywhere about anyone but Jeremy. You'd think the guy was dealing at the track the way you're dogging him. My point is, clean or not, he's not alone.

[EsEs]

Originally Posted by 24n48fan I'd be willing to bet that Jeremy Matfield is the dirtiest driver out there!

I's be willing to bet you're wrong.