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CUP: NASCAR Chairman France Defends Mayfield Suspension
Written by: Bob Pockrass
SceneDaily.com   http://www.scenedaily.com
07/03/2009
Daytona Beach, FL
 
NASCAR Chairman Brian France spoke to reporters about drug testing policy. (Photo: Greg Engle/SPEEDtv.com) ยป More Photos

Two days after seeing a NASCAR ruling overturned by a U.S. District Court judge, NASCAR Chairman Brian France passionately defended NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Driver/owner Jeremy Mayfield, whom NASCAR states tested positive May 1 for methamphetamines, obtained a preliminary injunction Wednesday to keep NASCAR from enforcing an indefinite suspension issued May 9. Mayfield has said he never used methamphetamines and questioned the procedures of Aegis Laboratories, which conducts NASCAR’s drug tests.

“We just don’t walk around suspending anybody that we feel like,” France said. “We take it very, very seriously. There is a detailed process from how people are tested, from the chain of custody on to one of five world-class accredited laboratories, with some of the best in the world who do this thousands of times a day for lots of different groups and private groups, public groups, sports leagues, and the like.

“And [the tests] are very exact, it’s the nature of tests, they should be. … We have two samples from an individual [and] that it’s the right of the person who tested positive, before we’ll suspend them, to test that second sample to make absolutely sure that the conclusions are accurate. And that was
the case with Jeremy.

“And we went further than that. We even went to another laboratory with two more tests, and they both had the same exact conclusions. And so, beyond what more we can do from a fairness in the process? At some point when you have a positive test, it should be the end of the road.”

Mayfield, who qualified for five of the first 11 races this season after starting his own team and has 433 career Cup starts, contends the drug test findings 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 has an expert, Dr. Harold Schueler of the Broward County (Fla.) medical examiner’s office, who states in an affidavit that the amount – 48,000 nanogram per milliliter – of methamphetamine in Mayfield’s body indicates a person is a chronic, habitual methamphetamine abuser. Since Mayfield passed a January 2009 test, Schueler theorizes that Mayfield is not a chronic user. He also says that the pseudoephedrine (in Claritin) could convert to methamphetamine if not tested properly.

NASCAR and its drug-testing supervisor, Dr. David Black of Aegis Laboratories, dispute that the drug test could have been a false positive.


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