A ruling NASCAR can’t afford to lose

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

A hearing in U.S. District Court will take place in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, with nothing less than the safety of NASCAR at stake in the ruling.

Driver Jeremy Mayfield, suspended since May 9 for failing a NASCAR drug test, has filed a lawsuit claiming the test was faulty. He is seeking an immediate injunction allowing him to return to competition in the Sprint Cup as early as this Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

If that happens, it will be a dangerous precedent for NASCAR.

In some ways, NASCAR has itself to blame for the legal mess on its hands. When series officials unilaterally implemented the random testing program this season rather than work with teams and drivers on a binding policy, they risked a legal challenge. And that’s what they got when Mayfield, a five-time winner in his 15-plus years in Cup competition, was indefinitely suspended for testing positive for what ESPN The Magazine has reported was methamphetamines.

Mayfield has acknowledged taking Adderall, a prescription drug used for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, along with over-the-counter allergy medication Claritin-D. But he vehemently denies using methamphetamines, according to papers filed in the court proceeding.

Mayfield claims in filings that he has been forced to lay off 10 employees from his fledgling racing team, which he began before the start of this season. He also says the suspension has cost him sponsorship.

There is little doubt Mayfield has suffered financially. And if there are legitimate questions about the handling of the drug test, he deserves his day in court.

But he shouldn’t be racing while waiting for that day to come. That’s because nobody knows who’s right. And the other 42 competitors on the racetrack need to sure the car next to them doesn’t have a driver under the influence behind the wheel.

As many as three regular competitors in the series provided affadavits in support of NASCAR, including three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and veteran Robby Gordon.

“For myself, it was speaking not directly about Jeremy, but in general about the safety of the sport and how I don’t want anyone on the track under the influence of any substance or under anything,” Johnson said when asked about the affadavit last week as he prepared to race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Myself and a few other drivers were asked if we agreed to those kinds of statements and I do.”

Indeed, it’s not only about Mayfield. It’s about precedent.

Consider the driver who inspired NASCAR to change its policy and implement random drug tests this year. Aaron Fike admitted last year that he injected heroin on race days. If NASCAR had random tests when Fike was competing in the lower levels of the sport from 2004-7, he might have been caught and suspended.

But imagine if Fike had failed a drug test and won an injunction in court allowing him to continue racing. He would have been a danger to everyone on the track, not to mention fans in the stands. In a sport where speeds reach 200 miles per hour and death is always a possibility, it’s a risk no one should be forced to take.

That’s why no driver who fails a drug test should be allowed near a racecar until rehabilitation or a legal dispute is complete. There’s too much at stake.