Drug-test procedure, results debated by Mayfield and NASCAR

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, June 26, 2009
Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR have reached different conclusions concerning the driver/owner's recent drug test. (Mark Sluder / NASCAR Scene)

Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR have reached different conclusions concerning the driver/owner's recent drug test.

Mark Sluder
NASCAR Scene

A drug test might seem to be a straightforward matter, but suspended driver/owner Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR have reached different conclusions about what Mayfield’s urine analysis shows, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Mayfield was tested May 1 and indefinitely suspended May 9 for an alleged positive result under NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy. He filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on May 29 seeking to have his suspension lifted, and NASCAR countersued him June 5. A U.S. District Court judge will hold a hearing Wednesday on Mayfield’s request for an injunction to keep NASCAR from enforcing the suspension.

One of the main issues concerns how the test was conducted and interpreted by Aegis Laboratories, which handles NASCAR’s drug testing.

In an affidavit, Mayfield said he was told by Aegis that he tested positive for methamphetamines, which Mayfield claims is a false positive after he took Claritin-D for allergies and Adderall for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

Mayfield’s experts also say that NASCAR should not have tested Mayfield’s B sample without his consent and that NASCAR should have used an independent laboratory to verify Aegis’ interpretations of the results.

In addition, forensic toxicologist Harry Plotnick, an expert for Mayfield whose consulting business includes providing expert testimony on the issues of sample collection and a laboratory procedure, stated in an affidavit that “a component of Claritin D (pseudoephedrine) has been reported to be converted to methamphetamine” if the inlet port temperature of the instrument used to test the urine happens to be too high.

“It could produce a false positive result for methamphetamine,” Plotnick said.

Plotnick also questioned the results of the A sample where on one page it says that it is a positive result for amphetamines and on another report, a negative for “all amphetamine class[es].”

Mayfield claims NASCAR must follow federal guidelines because its policy states that it uses facilities certified by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. With the first test in question and the second test not following the proper procedure according to the federal agency drug-testing guidelines, the test results should be determined invalid, Mayfield’s legal team argues.

“[NASCAR’s] consistent failures to follow the required protocols under the Drug Testing Guidelines invalidate their purported test results,” Mayfield’s lawyers state in a brief filed Thursday.

So what’s NASCAR’s answer?

First, Dr. David Black, Aegis chairman and president, states in an affidavit filed by NASCAR that the B sample does not need to be tested in an independent laboratory from the A sample “because such a procedure in [sic] not a common practice for sports testing laboratories and testing the B-sample at a different laboratory would delay results and impair the ability of NASCAR to safely administer the sport of stock car racing.”

Black states that the World Anti-Doping Agency requires the same laboratory conducts both tests and that that procedure is consistent with major sports leagues in the United States.

Black also states that Mayfield is misinterpreting the results of the initial test. The page that shows a negative results for all amphetamine classes is “unlikely to detect the presence of [drug name redacted] but will detect the overuse of over-the-counter drugs. … [The testing results] conducted on the Jeremy Mayfield samples are properly reported in the correct portion of the report,” Black said.

Black defends the testing procedures, the chain of custody and also states “sufficient unadulterated samples remain to confirm Aegis’s test results” if needed.

Dr. Doug Aukerman, who is the medical review officer for the NASCAR drug-testing program, rejects a Mayfield claim that he did not ask for the B sample to be tested. “I recorded his request in my verification notes at the time he made the request,” Aukerman states in his affidavit.

Aukerman also states that NASCAR does not have to follow the federal agency drug-testing guidelines, and NASCAR produced an expert who developed the U.S. Department of Transportation’s methodology for random testing under the federal guidelines. The expert, Kenneth Edgell, states that the federal guidelines were intended just for federal agencies and those guidelines “specifically prohibit the testing for the many drugs of concern addressed by the NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy.”

While both sides have produced experts to support their claims, Mayfield will not use his original expert, Harvey MacFenerstein, who issued a news release last week saying that the affidavit filed in the case last month was not the one he thought would be filed and ended up misrepresenting his qualifications. Mayfield attorney John Buric, in an affidavit, said that he made two mistakes – he didn’t delete a sentence indicating MacFenerstein was a medical review officer and he misread MacFenerstein’s handwriting of where he got his medical degree.

Buric thought MacFenerstein wrote CETED, but it actually was CETEC. NASCAR questions the validity of a degree from CETEC, which was a school in the Dominican Republic that has been closed and whose degrees are not recognized by the state of Texas, according to NASCAR.

Mayfield, in his reply to NASCAR’s request that all parts of his complaint originally based on MacFenerstein’s testimony be thrown out, characterizes NASCAR’s investigation into MacFenerstein’s qualifications as “international sleuthing.” While MacFenerstein in his news release said he wasn’t paid for his testimony, Buric, in a May 28 letter to MacFenerstein, offered to pay him. “Send me a bill,” Buric wrote. “I have money to pay you in my trust account.”

Buric, in his affidavit, states, “MacFenerstein has announced that he has no intentions of filing any additional information, will not participate in the litigation and has hired a lawyer who tells me to leave Dr. MacFenerstein alone.”

Comments

17 responses to "Drug-test procedure, results debated by Mayfield and NASCAR". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 10:31 AM

    O.J.Simpson said he was innocent too !! Just because someone lies doesn't mean we have to believe them ! Once you've burned your bridges, it's hard to turn something around.. You are finished Jeremy... Bye bye !!

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  2. 2
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 10:43 AM

    "international sleuthing" * G * ..Buric, in his affidavit, states, “MacFenerstein has announced that he has no intentions of filing any additional information, will not participate in the litigation and has hired a lawyer who tells me to leave Dr. MacFenerstein alone.” WOW.. Now what does that say about MacFenerstein ?? Someone might want to write a book about this little saga.. Getting better every day.. If you can't drive then sue NASCAR !! BUT you might want to get your ducks in a row first, eh..

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  3. 3
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 10:54 AM

    Tick, tick, tick.... Bye bye Jeremy !!

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  4. 4
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    The ADD drug that Mr. Mayfield thinks is okay is actually banned by the IOC, MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, International Cycling Federation, FIFA, etc.

    It's considered a performance enhancing drug that helps concentration and is banned in EVERY major sport on the planet that does drug testing.

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  5. 5
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 1:16 PM

    I'm sorry, even if you buy Mr. Mayfield's story, who takes 2 24-hour Claritan D's at the same time? That's abuse of a legal over-the-counter drug and would in all probability affect your motor skills, reactions, etc.

    If you buy his story he was abusing over-the-counter meds and taking a banned in every sport PED.

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  6. 6
    SheilaLovesNASCAR said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    He might have avoided this whole thing if he had come to NASCAR when he was diagnosed and told them what he was taking. As for the two 24 hour capsules, my husband always says, if it says take one, I always take two. At least the first time. And that's what Drs. recommend. Two for the first dosage. Was that Jeremy's first dosage that was in question? If not, then he was indeed abusing the drug.

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  7. 7
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    sounds like mac doesn't want to be checked out

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  8. 8
    mwallick said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    Bob, Have they done the hair sample test yet for 6-month comprehensive results yet...? Jeremy said that he wanted to have it done.
    Marybeth

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  9. 9
    mwallick said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 5:30 PM

    Bob, Have they done the hair sample test for 6-month comprehensive results yet...? Jeremy said that he wanted to do it.
    Marybeth

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  10. 10
    spd bmp said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 6:19 PM

    Is NASCAR claiming that two of it's sponsors are unable to perform to their advertised level? Come on, FedEx and UPS BOTH have overnight shipping available, so any delay in the B test by an independent lab is minimal given the races are held 6 or 7 days apart. NASCAR is runnin' scared - Dr. Black is on a witch hunt in search of the golden egg!

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  11. 11
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 9:15 PM

    flash,
    mayfield not a poster kid.but something smells about this.they will not admit a wrong in nascar. example the long case. king richard did it for his #200 win. but long is put out of business. with some top teams needing sponsers these guys out could help some of the chosen top 3. and another thing if it were one of the chosen poster kids would we have ever know about this ?

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  12. 12
    tweety_byrd said:
    Jun 26, 2009 at 10:05 PM

    Let's look at this another way. Mayfield takes medication for ADHD. I have seizures and take medication for it, would you let me get out on a track doing 120-180mph? I don't think NASCAR would.

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  13. 13
    bad_medicine2 said:
    Jun 27, 2009 at 6:05 AM

    Give it up already Jeremy.

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  14. 14
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 27, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    yeah nascar is trying to ruin you mayfield...everybody is out to get you
    just man up and tell the truth and dont act like we're stupid to beleive the inhaling of fumes theory at talladega which was 2 weeks before he failed his test

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  15. 15
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 27, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    GOOD RIDDENS TO BAD RUBBISH! RAY EVERNHAM FOUND OUT WHAT A SLIME BALL HE IS AND NOW HE IS AT IT AGAIN. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO KEEP TRYING TO GET BACK IN A SPORT THAT CLEARLY DOESN'T WANT ANY PART OF YOU? GO AWAY JEREMY!!!!

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  16. 16
    drakowjr said:
    Jun 28, 2009 at 7:32 AM

    Like Mayfield or not, something stinks on the NASCAR side too. Read their statements above on why all the legislations and standards should not apply to them. Only NASCAR's legislation & standards should apply to NASCAR. Neither party is free of guilt or suspesion here....

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  17. 17
    AllisonFan128 said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    First let me say that I don't like Jeremy Mayfield. I have always thought that he is arrogant and pompous. However, I have a hard time believing that he is a meth user. I have seen/been around a meth user (keeping a foster child situation) and he doesn't fit the mold. There would definitely be other signs which he doesn't have. Either way, though, his career as a racer/owner is over. Even if he is proved innocent, there will always be this dark cloud hanging over him that people will be leery of both at the track and away from it.

    NASCAR got burned by the Aaron Fike comments and they are trying to keep from being embarrassed again. Unfortunately, Jeremy got caught up in the situation. Even if he wins this battle, he's already lost the war.

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