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July 01, 2009
Jeremy Mayfield Wins Injunction; Can Race at Daytona
U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen granted Jeremy Mayfield's request for a preliminary injunction today that will allow Mayfield to race at Daytona even though he tested positive for methamphetamines and used Adderall without informing NASCAR as he was required to do. In granting the injunction Judge Mullen said, "The harm to Mayfield substantially outweighs harm to NASCAR." As Jeff Gluck from scenedaily.com said on Twitter, it seems to me that there's a safety issue here when it comes to a driver who may have used illegal drugs that should outweigh everything. If it had been proven today that the three times that Mayfield tested positive for meth from two different drug labs were all false positives and that he hadn't in fact ever used meth, and that there was some misunderstanding about the Adderall, then let him race. But the judge didn't rule on whether the tests, testing process or anything else was valid. It seems to me that the harm to NASCAR and it's competitors via the potential of having a driver on the track who may have used meth is greater than the harm to Mayfield in him not being able to race.
Mayfield said,
“The main thing is to be able to go back and be able to do that. The truth came out, and now I can go back and say we’re clear of all this. I cleared my name, and now we can go racing again. That means more to me than anything.”
I'd like to know just exactly how Mayfield thinks he cleared his name. It seems to me he's still an accused meth user since there are multiple positive drug tests that show he used meth that weren't discredited today. And the fact of the matter is that even if it's shown that NASCAR's drug testing policy is flawed that doesn't mean that Mayfield didn't use meth. Nor does it mean that he's in the clear when it comes to the Adderall either.
Mayfield says he plans on trying to race this weekend but my question is in what? As part of his suit Mayfield said that he had to lay off ten employees and lost a sponsor. In addition, the team hasn't been showing up at the track to attempt races. So it seems to me that Mayfield isn't likely to have the money or personnel to field a car this weekend for himself. Apparently he hopes to race someone else's car if he can't race one of his own but I have to wonder who would be willing to give him a car to race? It's quite possible that Mayfield really did test positive for illegal meth and it seems to me that there aren't going to be many who will be willing to risk putting him in a car and having something go wrong.
The other issue raised by several members of the media is what happens when the next driver (or crew member) tests positive? This may set a precedent in which they can just go to court and get an injunction which would allow them to continue racing until various lawsuits are sorted through which could take a year or more. Seems to me that makes it very difficult for NASCAR to be able to administer their drug policy which isn't good because it's essential that they be able to test drivers and crew members for drug use.
It'll be very interesting to find out what the reaction of Mayfield's fellow competitors are, if any of them are willing to go on the record about this.
Posted by silverdsl at July 1, 2009 04:18 PM