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CUP: Judge Grants NASCAR Request To Dismiss Counterclaim Against Mayfield
A U.S. District Court judge issued the order Wednesday, giving the case at least temporary closure on the district court level...
Bob Pockrass  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted September 30, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Jeremy Mayfield won an injunction to participate in NASCAR in July 2009 but never returned to competition. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
A U.S. District Court judge has granted NASCAR’s request to dismiss its breach-of-contract and fraud claims against Jeremy Mayfield to help speed up the appeal in Mayfield’s lawsuit against the sanctioning body over a May 1, 2009, drug test that NASCAR says was positive for methamphetamines.

U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen issued the order Wednesday, giving the case at least temporary closure on the district court level. In May, Mullen ruled that Mayfield, who has said he did not use methamphetamines, did not have a case against NASCAR and ruled in favor of NASCAR without the case going to trial.

Mayfield had been unable to appeal that decision because NASCAR’s countersuit – which alleges that by racing while violating the substance-abuse policy, Mayfield breached the contract he signed to compete in NASCAR – was still pending with a trial scheduled for July 2011. With that part dismissed, Mayfield can now file an appeal to Mullen’s decision that ruled the case in favor of NASCAR.

A Mayfield filing Tuesday indicated that he planned to ask the court Wednesday for permission to file an amended lawsuit with a revised defamation claim that included specific factual allegations demonstrating malice and an additional claim for interference with business relationships based upon newly discovered evidence. That request to file a revised lawsuit had not been submitted prior to Mullen’s ruling Wednesday.

Mayfield, who was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR on May 9, 2009, sued NASCAR for breach of contract, discrimination and defamation in an attempt to return to racing and for financial damages. He won an injunction to participate in NASCAR in July 2009 but never returned to competition.
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The injunction was later stayed, pending appeal, and Mayfield – the only driver suspended for violations of the substance-abuse policy since NASCAR implemented random drug testing in 2009 – eventually asked for the court to drop the injunction so the case could proceed more quickly toward trial. The judge then surprisingly dismissed Mayfield’s claims in May.

The 41-year-old Mayfield, who has 433 career starts with five Cup victories and two Chase appearances, has denied using methamphetamines and contends that the drug-test findings that prompted his suspension resulted from a combination of the prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine. He also argued that NASCAR must follow guidelines that regulate federal agencies.

NASCAR denied that Aegis Sciences Corp., which conducts the NASCAR drug-testing program, must follow those regulations, and Mullen agreed in his ruling in May. Mullen also ruled in May that Mayfield had given up his right to sue on a variety of issues because of waivers he had signed with NASCAR in order to compete.

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