NASCAR on Wednesday asked an appeals court to ban Jeremy Mayfield from racing, alleging the participation of “a proven methamphetamine user” could lead to fatal consequences for other competitors and fans.
NASCAR wants the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen’s decision last week to lift Mayfield’s indefinite suspension following a positive drug test.
Mayfield attorney John Buric scoffed at the idea Mayfield is a potential danger and revealed the driver was tested twice Monday — once at an independent laboratory and once at his home by NASCAR.
“He’s not a danger, and they have the right to test him anytime to find that out,” Buric said. “In fact, they did test him on Monday night at his home. A group of people went to his home and watched him pee in a cup. It was humiliating.”
Mayfield was suspended May 9 for failing a random drug test eight days earlier. NASCAR has said he tested positive for methamphetamine, but Mayfield has denied using the illegal drug.
NASCAR’s appeal did not mention the most recent random test, but NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston confirmed Mayfield was tested Monday evening.
Buric and NASCAR differed on what exactly happened during the seven-plus hours between the time Mayfield was asked to report for testing and when NASCAR collected a sample — a lag time the program administrator called “a classic case of delay tactics used by someone who doesn’t want to be tested.”
“The standard procedure for this type of testing is notification to an individual and no more than a 2-hour time lapse before the sample is collected,” said Dr. David Black, CEO of Aegis Sciences Corp., which runs NASCAR’s program.
“When an individual has more than two hours, they have an opportunity to engage in behavior that can mask a sample. When you are dealing with a seven-hour lag, there is a great opportunity for mischief.”
STEWART-BUSCH — Tony Stewart called his last-lap dust up with Kyle Busch at Daytona International Speedway last weekend “just a part of racing,” and Busch apparently agrees.
Stewart said he spoke to Busch and that the two NASCAR stars were on the “same page” following the accident that sent Busch to the infield care center and Stewart to Victory Lane in the final moments of the 400-mile race on Saturday night.
Busch took the lead on the next-to-last lap and tried to fend off a hard-charging Stewart. He successfully blocked Stewart once, but when he tried to do it again Stewart hooked Busch’s right rear fender instead, sending Busch into the wall a few hundred yards from the finish.
Stewart, the points leader heading into this week’s race in Chicago, said it was important to clear the air with Busch as quickly as possible.
“When something like that happens, you want to make sure that both guys are on the same page with what happened and we definitely were,” Stewart said. “I mean, there was no question on either one of our parts of what happened.”
FORMULA ONE — Formula One’s fragile peace deal was thrown into doubt when eight leading teams walked out of a meeting with the governing body after being told they had not been entered into the 2010 championship and would have no say on finalizing cost-cutting measures.
The Formula One Teams Association accused the FIA of putting “the future of Formula One in jeopardy” by reneging on a deal that saw them halt plans to form a breakaway series.
At a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council two weeks ago in Paris, the FIA backed down on plans to implement a voluntary budget cap that had angered FOTA.
Under their agreement, FOTA teams agreed to cut costs to 1990s levels and FIA announced they would be entered into the 2010 championship.
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