Jeremy Mayfield denies using methamphetamines, claims loss of sponsorship in filing
Jeremy Mayfield denies using methamphetamines, claims loss of sponsorship in latest court filing in lawsuit against NASCAR. // Jeff Robinson, NASCAR Scene
Suspended driver/owner Jeremy Mayfield denies that he has taken methamphetamines and says that because NASCAR has indefinitely suspended him for a failed drug test that he has lost the sponsorship of his race car and had to lay off 10 employees, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday.
Both Mayfield and NASCAR filed several documents Thursday in preparation for a hearing next Wednesday on Mayfield’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop NASCAR from enforcing the suspension.
Mayfield was tested May 1 and suspended May 9. He filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on May 29, and NASCAR countersued him June 5.
Mayfield claims that a combination of Claritin-D taken for allergies and the prescription drug Adderall, taken for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder resulted in a false positive determination by Aegis Laboratories, which conducts the NASCAR testing program.
NASCAR claims that Mayfield had an additional illegal drug in his system, which it has not identified, but Mayfield indicated in an affidavit filed that he was suspected of having used methamphetamine.
“I have never taken methamphetamines in my life, and when accused of taking them, I immediately volunteered to give another urine sample,” Mayfield states in an affidavit that accompanies his brief in support of the injunction request. “Aegis refused my offer. … The Aegis drug test was erroneous. Their actions and those of NASCAR have eliminated my ability to show the test results were a ‘false positive.’”
With J.J. Yeley as its driver, Mayfield’s team competed in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown May 16 and attempted to make the Sprint Cup race the following week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It has not come to the track for the last four events and is not entered this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Mayfield’s motion indicated he would attempt to make the July 4 race at Daytona International Speedway if he obtains the injunction Wednesday.
“Mayfield has already been publicly accused, tried and convicted by NASCAR, even though he has done nothing wrong,” Mayfield’s motion states. “As a result, Mayfield and his race team have lost, and will continue to lose, crucial advertising, sponsorship, and business opportunities. … [His] sponsor now refuses to honor its commitments.
“Smaller corporate sponsors that Mayfield worked with successfully in the past will no longer do business with him either.”
Mayfield claims that NASCAR did not follow proper procedures and had no authorization to test his B sample and contends it should have been done in a laboratory independent of the testing of the A sample. NASCAR, in previous filings, stated that it does not have to follow the federal workplace guidelines as Mayfield contends and argues that its procedures are legal.
Dr. David Black, Aegis president, says 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.”
In its filing, NASCAR includes affidavits from drivers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Robby Gordon stating they are not “willing to put my life at risk driving a race car on a NASCAR track with drivers testing positive for drugs that diminish their capacity to drive a race car.”
“If NASCAR is forced to allow a drug user to race in its events, such driver may cause serious injuries, including fatalities, to NASCAR’s fans,” NASCAR Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell said in an affidavit. “… It would take a simple lapse of judgment by a driver under the influence of a banned substance to create a catastrophic accident.”
Both sides have experts in the drug-testing field who have filed affidavits in support of their positions on the procedures. Mayfield does not include an affidavit from Harvey MacFenerstein, whom he used when he filed the suit May 29 but who has since said the wrong affidavit, which included inaccuracies in his background, was filed. Mayfield attorney John Buric has filed an affidavit explaining the history of the MacFenerstein affidavit.
Mayfield’s experts include New Mexico laboratory quality auditor Janine Arvizu and Ohio forensic toxicologist Harry Plotnick, who state that NASCAR did not follow proper testing procedures. It also includes affidavits from crew chief Tony Furr and others saying that Mayfield wasn’t impaired when he practiced May 1 at Richmond prior to taking the drug test.
