NASCAR vs Mayfield, No Winners Here

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

There are times when it seems that you should just stop shoveling the big hole you appear to be digging for yourself.

Right now, Jeremy Mayfield is well past 6 feet, and I think he is zeroing in on China.

I was willing to give Jeremy the benefit of the doubt when he failed his first drug test. I mean, Jeremy just doesn’t seem like the drug-using type. And Methamphetamines are some pretty heavy-duty stuff.

I was a little curious about his claim about mixing Adderall and Claritin and coming up with Meth in the blood stream.

You see, I am also ADHD, and I am also on Adderall XR…and I have taken Claritin. And I am pretty sure taking both combined did nothing for me other than what they were designed to do.

For those not familiar with Adderall, it is a prescription drug that helps people like me concentrate better. It doesn’t make you high, or act like any narcotic that I am aware of. It is powerful, and it does require not only a prescription, but regular visits to the prescribing physician to make sure you aren’t abusing it.

For those not familiar with ADHD…here is part of a joke that will kind of give you a feeling of what it is like when you DON’T take your Adderall…or whatever medication you are prescribed:

So I decide to water my garden.
… As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.
… As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
… I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
… I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
… So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left.
… My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

Getting back to Jeremy and his shovel.

Last Monday, NASCAR asked Jeremy to take a second drug test because of the controversy surrounding the first test.

Now, if I was Jeremy, I would have actually been hoping this was coming to give me a chance to clear my name. I have told pretty much everyone what medications I am on, and why I am taking them. If NASCAR comes knocking, you bet I am going to be ready to take the test and show that I am as clean as can be with the exception of the medications I have told everyone I am taking. And I am going to go straight to where NASCAR tells me to, pee in that cup, and pass it over. As a back-up, at the same time, I’d be calling my lawyer and having him arrange for someone to come over and get a second sample…at the same time as the one I’m giving to NASCAR…so we can have it independently tested by another lab of equal or better ability.

Just to be safe.

Unfortunately, it apparently didn’t go quite that way. Jeremy claims he couldn’t find the first lab he was sent to. (Does he not own a GPS unit?).

Eventually, NASCAR had to go to his house to get the sample from Jeremy.

Now, according to the following interview from Sirius NASCAR radio’s “Late Shift”, Jeremy took the time between when he claims he couldn’t find the lab and when NASCAR was able to get to his house to go do a sample of his own at an Urgent Care clinic.

“I took it at two different facilities. One was at the Piedmont Urgent Care before [NASCAR’s] test and another one actually at an emergency room right after their test. And the one I took after their test was, I'm going to say 30, 35 minutes later just to let you know the timeline there. I promise you they'll show different results than what they show."

So, not only did Jeremy have time to go do a urine test of his own before NASCAR came to collect his sample, he also decided to go get yet a third sample taken half an hour after NASCAR left his house.

So, how does Mayfield explain the second positive test?

"Well, first of all I didn't think they were going to come back and say I was clean you know what I mean? Because that's just not, doesn't seem which way they want to work anymore. I had a test done before their test and I had a test done 30, 35 minutes after their test that got different results than what they're mentioning there. We'll hear more about that tomorrow, more detail on that. But it's just part of the deal that's going on. It's just a bad deal all the way around for everybody involved and stuff just keeps popping up, one thing after another. It'll all come out and at the end we'll all know. And I think a lot of you guys that I've known and seen the past for years know for sure without a shadow of doubt there's nothing wrong here, nothing going on. And they have a hard time admitting when they're wrong or done something wrong and we all know that, whether we admit it or not, we know that and it's just part of the battle, part of the things we're going to have to fight here."

OK, fine. So there are three sets of samples out there. If that is the case, then why don’t we have three sets of lab results to look at?

John Buric, one of the lawyers representing Mayfield, explained that they have been trying to get NASCAR to let them send the second “B” sample to a lab they choose, but it isn’t as easy as just sending it to any lab.

"It's our view that Jeremy's B sample should be tested by an independent lab to confirm the test…We have asked NASCAR to send it to a lab of our choosing and they have refused to do so."

Now, keep in mind, we aren’t just talking about taking a sample and looking to see if the strip turns pink or blue. This kind of test, from all that I have read and heard, is down to the molecular level. To the point that the doctors can tell the difference between Adderall XR and Claritin….and actual methamphetamines.

All of the labs that Jeremy’s team has suggested be used to test their samples are not capable of testing at that level. Which is why NASCAR won’t let them send the sample to that lab.

So why on earth would they want to use a lab not capable of doing the testing that needs to be done???

Jeremy Mayfield has never been known for his brains.

When he was part of team Penske, he fought with teammate Rusty Wallace. When he moved over to Evernham Motorsports, he essentially bit off the hand that fed him by spilling the beans on his boss’s personal life, claiming that Ray Evernham’s relationship with Erin Crocker was taking away from his ability to run a winning team.

After that comment, Jeremy found himself unemployed.

When he was unable to find a team to give him a ride, Jeremy decided to strike out on his own and start up a team. He mortgaged his home, bought some cars, and seemed to be on a roll early on in the season.

But when the tide turned on Jeremy, it turned hard.

Not one to learn from his previous lessons on “think about what you plan to say before you say it”, Jeremy has decided the best way to win his battle against NASCAR’s drug policy is to try and belittle everyone involved with it.

A few quotes from Jeremy over the last few days:

"Brian France out there talking about effective drug policy, it's kind of like Al Capone talking about effective law enforcement. And that's the way I feel about it. The pot shouldn't be calling the kettle black, you know what I'm saying? And I think the world needs to hear that, too."

“I've been real quiet, letting them do their own deal. Let Ramsey [Poston] run his mouth on a daily basis. And I just can't take it no more and I need to tell the truth. I need to let everybody know that what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. And I find it hard for a guy in Brian France's position to sit here and tell the world how great and how strong their drug policy is and basically, you look at the World Anti-Doping Association - I said this last week in an interview - you go ask anybody in any kind of sporting series in the world what kind of policy we have and it's the worst out there. And I have a hard time when Brian wants to sit there and tell all the race fans out there how strong and how great their policy is when in fact it's not. And I just don't believe in things like that and it's time to tell it. It's time for the world to know that kind of stuff."

"I don't trust anything NASCAR does, anything Dr. David Black does, never have, never will.”

My question is this: What does NASCAR have to gain from taking Jeremy down? It seems to me, they have a lot more to lose than to gain in this. If they are, as Jeremy claims, making all of this up, then NASCAR loses its credibility as a sanctioning body. If NASCAR wants to show what a great sport this is, wouldn’t they want to support Jeremy in getting this issue solved and him back on track? In the last few years, we have had several drivers test positive for drugs….and then after they show they are clean, give them a second chance.

Unfortunately, those involved have squandered that second chance as well, and as in the case of Shane Hmeil, whose father is wall placed and well liked in NASCAR, he was banned for life. It didn’t matter who his father was or how connected he was. He was tested…allegedly took the steps to get clean…he was allowed back in…and then blew it.

NASCAR doesn’t like the black eye situations like that bring on…so why would they want to bring more attention to themselves by “targeting” someone like Jeremy Mayfield?

I also don’t think it helped Jeremy’s situation that he pleaded to the courts to overturn his ban because he was facing financial ruin by being unable to race…and then when they granted the injunction to allow him back on the track…Jeremy not only didn’t show for the next race in Daytona…he didn’t show the following week in Chicago either.

I’ve wanted to take the theory of “Innocent until proven guilty” with Jeremy, but it is getting harder and harder with each move he makes.

I’ll hold off final judgment until Jeremy’s lawyers provide those extra sets of test results. However, I would have thought if they truly do prove Jeremy clean and innocent, they would have been paraded out for all to see as soon as they arrived back from the lab.

Just one of those things that make you go “hmmmmmm".

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