Sprint Cup drivers question ruling in Jeremy Mayfield case
Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton spoke to the media Thursday at Daytona International Speedway in reference to Wednesday's court ruling concerning Jeremy Mayfield.
// Jeff Robinson, NASCAR Scene
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.”
