A Potentially Ill-Fated Defense of Jeremy Mayfield

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

May 16, 2009 11:12 pm UTC 9 Comments

I know, I know, I must be crazy to defend one of the most loathed and least respected drivers in the entire Sprint Cup garage. I must be out of my mind to make an argument for the first wheelman to fail one of NASCAR’s drug tests. I must be nuts to think that Jeremy Mayfield is a victim just as much as a villain.

But over the past week or so, reflecting on the former Chase driver’s situation, and owing to my underdog bias, I think the guy’s gotten screwed. He’s even been a victim dating all the way back to his times with the former Evernham Motorsports, where a situation that wasn’t really his fault set most of the garage against him.

Hear me out on this. As journalists, however seriously we take the term, we have to attempt to be fair, even when we may dislike the drivers. As Charlie mentioned in his piece, Marc at Full Throttle has done the best at trying to be objective, but because it seems everybody is so against the poor guy, let me attempt to balance the scale by trying to mount a defense.

Mayfield joined EMS in 2002 to try and boost the team’s performance. He worked his way up the ranks for the next three years, gaining points positions every year and making the first two Chases. He, alongside Bill Elliott and Kasey Kahne, helped turn the team from pretender to contender, and was the first driver on the team to make the Chase.

Remember what happened after the 2005 season, when Ray Evernham switched Mayfield’s Chase-caliber crew to Kahne’s car, and gave Mayfield Kahne’s old crew. Kahne won six races, and Mayfield fell out of the top 35 in owners’ points. Then Mayfield gets fired for making an… accurate observation about Evernham not spending enough time with the Sprint Cup team (yadda yadda).

Look, I understand that airing others’ dirty laundry isn’t the most respectable thing to do, but can you blame the guy for feeling like he got the shaft? When the most important guy on that race team switches your excellent crew to a more marketable driver who goes on to win six races with them, when your new crew can’t even keep you locked into the show every weekend, and when the most knowledgeable guy on the team is spending most of his time elsewhere, you’re not getting the fair shake that you deserve. It’s not like Mayfield suddenly forgot how to drive.

Honestly, if I were a Sprint Cup owner, I’d be more inclined to hire the guy for being honest, but I guess I’m the only one.

Fast forward to now, where it seems like the whole garage is against Mayfield for this positive drug test, based on past judgments of his character. Has he honestly rubbed everyone the wrong way? Yes, he’s a challenging guy, at times, but aren’t many of our favorite drivers? It’s not like everyone in the garage is Terry Labonte and never steps out of line.

Hell, does anyone else think that maybe, if his positive result was because of illegal drugs, that maybe he could’ve turned onto them as a coping mechanism because of the rampant dislike for him in the garage?

If anything, this positive test makes NASCAR’s policy look like Swiss cheese next to other sports, and I think that if Mayfield were to challenge it. Two things really make the policy look stupid: first, Ramsey Poston, NASCAR’s spokesperson, admitted that the sport doesn’t have a definitive list of drugs it tests for, and will not release one to the public; second, Brian France says he sees “no benefit” to releasing the name of the substance. (For the record, Mayfield claims it was Claritin D.)

Now, let’s just assume that Mayfield did test positive for Claritin – a NASCAR sponsor, I might add, with Carl Edwards. First of all, there’s no way that Mayfield would know that a prescription he takes would be illegal if there’s not a solid list. (According to France, a list is given to teams, and it can change “as science changes,” but his comments seem to go against what most folks in the garage believe. Is he trying to protect himself, or is everyone else just naive?) This would also bring into question NASCAR’s decision to suspend him as both owner and driver – because what wrong is present in an owner taking allergy medication? (There are warnings on Claritin about operating machinery, which could justify the driver suspension, but not the owner one.)

Second of all, also assuming that Mayfield’s positive test was for a prescription or over-the-counter medicine, there is plenty of reason for NASCAR to release the name. What if others involved in the sport are taking the same thing? It’ll help them by getting them off the drug immediately. Even if it’s not a legal drug, if it is something recreational, perhaps it’d be the first step in getting Mayfield the help he needs.

NASCAR’s argument that drivers and crew members can discuss their medicines with Dr. David Black is ludicrous. There has to be a list. Every other major professional sport with a drug testing program has a list. Without a list, and by keeping the names of the drugs secret, NASCAR could feasibly suspend whoever they wanted pretty easily, without anyone able to get a word in edgewise. The lack of appeal system is also problematic, unless you consider the B sample test a fair appeal.

I would not be shocked if, given all of these obvious issues with the drug testing program that still need to be ironed out, Mayfield makes a challenge sometime in the near future.

If Mayfield’s test was a recreational or performance-enhancing substance, well, forget this, I guess. I’m just saying, don’t judge the situation until you know all the facts. It’s why NASCAR needs to release the list, say what Mayfield tested positive for, and insitute an appeal system.

Until then, and until I know for certain that Mayfield was doing anything performance-enhancing or illegal by the name of the drug, consider me the one guy in the garage standing behind Jeremy, Shana, J.J. Yeley, and the Mayfield Motorsports team.

Give ‘em hell, guys.

Filed under: Evernham Motorsports, Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR

Tagged with: Brian France, Dr. David Black, Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR drug testing

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Comments

9 Responses to “A Potentially Ill-Fated Defense of Jeremy Mayfield”

Luke on May 17th, 2009 7:01 am

Well said, Chris. Well said indeed.

Even the military, as tough as they are on these things nowadays, you know what you can and can’t take. If it’s illegal, don’t take it. If you’re prescribed it, it’s in your medical record. If you’re taking something over the counter, you can tell them.

Now, I wonder why they would take those into account? Maybe because they’ll show up?

There’s tons more I could go into, but I’ll leave you with a standing O.
Marc on May 17th, 2009 9:24 pm

“Even if it’s not a legal drug, if it is something recreational, perhaps it’d be the first step in getting Mayfield the help he needs.”

That’s already part of the program regardless if the drug is known, that’s what the mandatory rehab program is for.

On the Claritin sponsorship, Edwards sponsor is Claritin the companies own website and the box label claims its for “non-drowsy allergy relief,” (with the normal caution about taking too much) Claritin D one the other hand also claims it’s a non-drowsy etc, but Claritin-D contains the warning “Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you take” it with certain types of drugs.

Of course that presumes that’s the drug in question, and I have serious doubts.

As you said I’ve been fairly even minded in this matter, NASCAR needs to give an extensive list of both banned drugs and those OTC drugs that can and will pop positive.

All that said, his stunt this weekend of showing up at Lowes knowing full well he wasn’t allowed to AND defiantly saying he wasn’t entering rehab is flat-out stupid.

Even if he is innocent why kick more sand in their face, it makes zero sense.

I won’t won’t go into his claim of an outside and independent test as a way to prove his innocence (you can read my take here) I’ll just say he’s full of beans the test he’s taking won’t prove a damn thing, a hair follicle test will not cover the period/timeframe in question.

It’s a tenuous grasp at a very thin straw.
Gene on May 17th, 2009 10:14 pm

What everyone is ignoring is France’s statement that other tests have come back postive and the dirvers were asked what they were taking and the tests were nulified. That explains all the drivers who are suddenly talking about bad backs, colds, etc.

The NASCAR policy is not just unethical, it is also illegal. There is a HUGE difference bewteen calling this a drug abuse screen and what it might be, a diminished reflex test.

Let’s be honest, if it was a driver “higher up the food chain” would they have rushed to make the announcemnt like the way they labled Jeremy?”

For this and many other reasons its time they formed a Drivers Union
chuck allen on May 18th, 2009 4:50 pm

I think it may be a bit of an overstatement that the whole garage hates and has no respect for Jeremy. I think that after 15 full years on the circuit, he’s earned the respect of a vast majority of the other competitors. He is a clean driver and races everyone with respect. I have never heard another driver state that he doesn’t deserve to be there. If anything, I think many of them have praised his attempt at running his own team this year. Granted, he has had problems in the past, but there are two sides, which was covered in the story. This situation has shown that Jeremy Mayfield has quite a few die hard fans. It really wouldn’t be in any current drivers best interests to speak in defense of him. You never know, they could “test positive” for an unknown substance next week. In closing, great “SAVE JEREMY” banner being flown above the All Star race on Saturday. I wonder what other drivers really think but can’t/won’t say publicly.
Marc on May 18th, 2009 8:13 pm

Gene – put down the Kool-Aide, you’ve over-dosed.

You called it “illegal” because of what it “might be?”

Whatever, bet you believe in Nazi UFOs, grassy knolls and Big Foot.

And green cheese on the Moon.
Charlie Turner on May 18th, 2009 9:46 pm

For me , I’m hoping but not confident, that NASCAR isn’t showing bias in their testing policies. I’m hoping but not confident, that if prominent drivers and owners in the series thought something was really wrong with the process, that they would speak up strongly. And, I’m hoping but not confident that Jeremy Mayfield is innocent of abusing drugs that would put the sport and other drivers at risk.

It’s obvious that people care about this. I think Chris posed the issue really well.
Steve Wronkowicz on May 19th, 2009 6:44 am

Good Job Chris. This whole drug testing topic seems to bring about passion from all sides. I have no problem with NASCAR or any other company requiring drug tests if the safety of that person or especially others is at stake.

But i do have a problem if the parameters are not set and published. Aiming at a moving or evolving target is a recipe for controversy at the least and disaster at the most.

Jeremy’s ability to run his team however should not be at issue. Suspend him from driving until this can all be sorted out and proved one way or the other. But banning him from the garage as owner is crazy. i don’t know the answer to this as i ask and maybe Marc or someone else does; are owners subject to the random testing? Must Rick or jack or Joe grab a cup?
Charlie Turner on May 19th, 2009 7:03 am

How about this Steve, guys?

Wasn’t Billy Ballew (sp) just cited for DUI at Atlanta a while back. He’s a truck team owner. The incident happened on AMS property. I can’t believe that alcohol is NOT on the list (but how would we know?). Why is Billy different than Mayfield as an owner?
4ever3 on May 21st, 2009 1:37 am

You know I could care less if NASCAR or even Mayfield himself comes public about his toxicology report – its none of our business really. What I care about is if the other drivers in the garage area know what the illegal substance was.

If I were a driver I’d want to know if an accused driver was ‘impaired’ by an illegal/illicit drug or a performance enhancing drug instead. Don’t get me wrong, drug use is drug use as far as I’m concerned, but if I were a driver on the same track as an accused drug user I’d feel a whole lot safer if the guy was using steriods to increase his stamina as opposed to a guy using crack.

As far as no one sticking up for Mayfield I think no one really knows anything so everyone is just keeping quiet right now or giving the correct PC statement of the moment.

Steve, my intreptation of the rules regarding drug testing is that anyone involved with a race team that is in the garage area may be tested so that would include owners too, whether or not NASCAR tests the Jack Roush or Rick Hendricks of the world I don’t know.

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