NASCAR remains silent on Jeremy Mayfield drug test from last week
NASCAR has not issued the results of the drug test administered to Jeremy Mayfield on July 6.
Mayfield is currently involved in legal action with the sanctioning body. NASCAR said Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines May 1 and suspended him indefinitely, but Mayfield went to court and had his suspension overturned July 1 by U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen.
NASCAR ordered Mayfield to be tested again July 6. Mayfield submitted to the test and also went to two independent labs July 6 to give urine samples.
“The process continues,” was all NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston would say about the test results Monday morning.
Mayfield attorney John Buric did not immediately respond to a voice mail Monday asking about the test results.
Poston said Monday that once the process is over, the sanctioning body likely would say whether the results of the test were positive or negative. NASCAR typically does not announce the results of negative tests, but it also typically is not public knowledge who is being tested. NASCAR also doesn’t typically comment on positive tests until a second, so-called B sample is verified.
Dr. David Black, whose Aegis Laboratories conducts the NASCAR drug-testing program, said last week that he had hoped to have the results analyzed by last Friday but it could take longer depending on what the initial results showed. If Mayfield’s initial sample showed that it was positive, Black said he would have to ask the court what to do with the B sample because part of Mayfield’s lawsuit centers around whether Aegis or an independent laboratory should analyze the B sample. There were no filings in either U.S. District Court nor the U.S. Court of Appeals (where NASCAR is asking for the injunction to be overturned) about the test as of Monday morning.
Mayfield contends the May 1 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.
Mayfield’s was called by NASCAR technicians at 1:18 p.m. July 6, but he didn’t give them a sample until 8:20 p.m. for the latest test.
He was told on the initial call he had two hours to get to a NASCAR-specified laboratory to give a sample – two hours being the standard for NASCAR tests not conducted at the race track, Poston said. Mayfield claimed he couldn’t find the lab and then went to a laboratory not acceptable to Aegis but one suggested by Buric.
NASCAR sent technicians and a NASCAR security official to Mayfield’s home, and they were able to get a sample about an hour after they arrived, Poston said. If Mayfield did not give a sample, he would have been considered to have failed the test and been suspended.
Buric said the delay at Mayfield’s home was caused by NASCAR telling the technicians that they had to directly observe Mayfield providing the urine sample with his pants down and shirt up. When NASCAR tests at the track, drivers are allowed to use a bathroom stall.
Black said the direct observe procedure is used when there is reasonable suspicion or for follow-up testing.
