Written by:
Jimmy Spencer
No matter what happens on the track this weekend, no matter how many “big ones” break out, the overriding focus will be Jeremy Mayfield, who apparently won’t even compete at Daytona, for the simple reason a federal judge declared he has the right to do so.
But if NASCAR had in place a more defined drug testing policy, Mayfield’s name never would have been the newsmaker short of an upset win Saturday night
With his lifting of Mayfield’s suspension, U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen said it is likely the driver’s drug test rendered a false positive. What a punch to the gut for NASCAR.
NASCAR has egg on its face because it did not specifically outline in its policy what is considered an illegal substance. Too much room was left for interpretation; too many loopholes existed that allowed Mayfield’s attorney to drive a truck right through the policy and humiliate NASCAR. Several guys have told me they don’t fully understand what the parameters are and I think that uncertainty is a good portion of the reason Mayfield’s suspension was overturned.
Secondly, NASCAR should have sent Mayfield’s “B” sample to a separate, independent laboratory instead of allowing the same lab to test both the “A” and “B” samples. That’s often the procedure in similar cases. Furthermore, in the future, hair and blood samples should also be obtained, which I think are more reliable and efficient methods of substance detection.
NASCAR has to amend its policy and soon, spelling out in writing what is and isn’t permissible. Some drivers have told me they’re nervous about the testing policy because the sanctioning body hasn’t delineated what is and isn’t legal, and they don’t want to unwittingly violate guidelines. We all take medications every day, from Nyquil to Tylenol and the like, and I’d hate to think an innocent move could lead to a breach of the policy. But if there is a chance Mayfield’s test was indeed a false positive as the judge indicated is possible, then every person in the garage area deserves to know what he or she can and cannot ingest so if this were to ever happen again, no blameless person is vilified.
This situation could have been so simple and straightforward with a few more concrete rules and procedures but instead it’s been dragged into the court system and has given NASCAR an enormous black eye. The intentions of this ramped-up random testing policy were great but the execution failed miserably.
If you rob a bank or fail to pay your income taxes, you can expect to go to jail because those crimes are blatantly against the law. But NASCAR hasn’t specifically said what is prohibited, and as a result, they have lost this battle. The sanctioning body sometimes tries too hard to flex its muscle but that iron fist mentality backfired in this situation. However, I presume NASCAR and the drivers learned a lot from this experience.
It’s time to close the loopholes and clear up the ambiguities immediately so this doesn’t happen the next time someone fails a drug test. NASCAR has been backed into a corner and they better come out swinging with a more specific and airtight policy.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.
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