NASCAR Claims Mayfield Tested Positive for Amphetamines
July 6th, 2009 by Rick
Suspended since May for failing a random drug test, NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield has been spinning his wheels in anticipation for his day in court to have the suspension lifted. On Wednesday, July 1st, Mayfield received his chance in federal court. NASCAR revealed that Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamines. Mayfield says he never touched the drug and contends that a mixture of taking Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Claritin-D for allergies caused him to test positive.
Mayfield’s lawyer, Bill Diehl, argued that Aegis Sciences Corporation, based in Nashville, TN, that runs the testing program for NASCAR, tested both the “A” and “B” samples. Diehl stressed the fact that Mayfield should have been given the opportunity to send the “B” sample to an independent laboratory.
Diehl said:
They say ‘We’re not bound by anything. We’re NASCAR. We can do what we want to do’. [...] If they decide to ban Coca-Cola, or coffee or orange juice, their argument is ‘We can’. That smells bad, and it stinks enough that the court should intervene.
Apparently the court felt the same way, U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen, reinstated Mayfield into NASCAR by issuing a temporary injunction. However the damage had already been done, preventing Mayfield from entering this past Saturday’s race in Daytona, FL.
Only owning a low budget team, Mayfield had to lay off ten employees, borrow money from family and sell any personal assets he had in order to keep up with living expenses. His wife, Shana, owns the #41 Toyota now, but hasn’t been having it race because of financial reasons.
Mayfield said:
Shana and I, as well as everyone at Mayfield Motorsports, will do everything in our power to race next weekend.
Unfortunately he’s not on the race entry list for next week’s race in Chicago. Mayfield has missed eight races since his suspension back in May.
