NASCAR reiterates argument that Jeremy Mayfield is a public danger in latest appeal
NASCAR wants to keep suspended Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield on the sideline until he completes a substance-abuse policy reinstatement program because it continues to consider him a danger to the public, according to documents filed Tuesday night in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
NASCAR filed its appeal Tuesday to a July 1 injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen that had forced NASCAR to temporarily reinstate Mayfield, whom NASCAR suspended for what it says was a May 1 positive test for methamphetamines. The appeals court granted NASCAR’s request for a stay of the injunction July 24, and Mayfield has been suspended since then.
“It is undisputed that having a methamphetamine user race in NASCAR events, where speeds can exceed 180 miles per hour, puts other drivers, officials and spectators at significant risk of physical harm, including death,” NASCAR states in its appeal filed Tuesday.
Mayfield, who has denied using methamphetamines, contends the drug test findings that prompted his suspension resulted from a combination of prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine.
He has also contended that NASCAR must follow guidelines that regulate federal agencies. NASCAR denies that Aegis Sciences Corp., which conducts the NASCAR drug-testing program, must follow those regulations.
“Mayfield … has offered absolutely no evidence – and there is none in the record – that the May 1, 2009, Mayfield urine specimen that Aegis tested either (1) was not Mayfield’s specimen or was adulterated in some way, or (2) did not contain methamphetamine,” NASCAR states in its appeal. “Aegis’ testing equipment and testing protocols are far too sophisticated to mistake a combination of Claritin-D and Adderall XR for methamphetamine, as Mayfield initially suggested.”
In the appeal, NASCAR argues that Mullen erroneously believed that a same-day test exists to assess a driver’s methamphetamine use and that clouded his decision on whether there would be any consequences for the public if Mayfield races.
NASCAR also argues that a second, so-called B sample can be tested by the same laboratory, a procedure used by the National Footall League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the Indy Racing League. Mayfield has argued that he should have the right to chose where the B sample is tested.
Mayfield, who qualified for five of the first 11 races this season after starting his own team and has 433 career Sprint Cup starts, is the first Cup driver to be suspended under NASCAR’s random drug-testing policy implemented this year.
He eventually sued NASCAR to get back on the track and for financial damages and obtained the injunction July 1. NASCAR’s filing of the appeal Tuesday night is the first step in the process to get the injunction permanently lifted. A hearing on the appeal most likely won’t take place until mid-October at the earliest in Richmond, Va.
The appeal pertains only to the injunction and only to the May 1 drug test – not the disputed results of tests taken July 6. No matter the result of the appeal on the injunction, Mayfield’s lawsuit over the suspension will continue in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, with a trial not to begin until September 2010 at the earliest.
