If you have ever met Jeremy Mayfield, you will most likely agree that he is one of the most amicable and approachable drivers in the garage. While he was never at the same level as Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, or any other big name star when it came to popularity, he had a sizable following.
He became the ultimate underdog story in September of 2004 when he won the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at
Richmond, earning a berth for the inaugural Chase for the Championship.
A year later, he capitalized on fuel mileage to win at
Michigan, catapulting him into the Chase for the Championship in consecutive seasons.
You could not help but pull for the guy, especially when he pieced together a low-budget operation and raced his way into the Daytona 500.
Less than three months later, Mayfield’s world came crashing down.
The daring darkhorse failed a random drug test.
At first, the drug in question was undisclosed, but NASCAR later stated that methamphetamines (street name Crystal Meth) triggered the positive result. Mayfield denied any use of illegal drugs, and as we all know, he claimed that Adderall, a legal prescription drug for Attention Deficit Disorder, and Claritin, an over the counter allergy medication, triggered the positive result.
Unless you still hold a grudge for Mayfield’s bump on Dale Earnhardt at Pocono in 2000, or his acrimonious fallout with Roger Penske and Ray Evernham, you want to believe that he is innocent.
However, being a nice guy does not automatically make you innocent.
Nice guys can lose their way, and fall in the habit of abusing drugs.
I am not going to accuse Jeremy Mayfield of using meth, nor am I going to assert that he is innocent.
I am as confused and baffled as anyone else who is following this continuous story.
All I can do is draw my own conclusions.
It has been an ongoing saga for nearly two months and it appears as if it is not going to end anytime soon.
Mayfield won the injunction, and he is able to race this weekend in
Joliet, Illinois if he makes the trip.
NASCAR is requesting a reversal on the decision, as they still feel as if Jeremy Mayfield poses a danger to his fellow competitors.
After winning the injunction, Mayfield seemed to have the upper hand.
He has fought so hard to prove his innocence.
He has gone to great lengths, far greater than most, to do so.
He told the courts that he needed to race in order to maintain his livelihood, yet he did not make the trip to Daytona last weekend.
Of course, he released a public statement that he did not want to absorb all media focus during July 4
th weekend, and it had to be difficult to prepare a car for a race when most of your team had to be laid off just weeks prior.
Nonetheless, if Mayfield felt that there was even a slight chance that he could race at Daytona, would he not have spent the previous few weeks preparing a car just in case?
There are two sides to this story, and that only makes it more confusing.
Until there is conclusive evidence that proves that Mayfield used drugs, or that NASCAR is trying to save face, everyone reading this, or the other countless Mayfield articles, is left to draw their own conclusions.
Hopefully, the truth will come out soon so this madness will not overshadow the race to the Chase.
Comments
What to believe? Well, the collection process was really messed up based upon recent statements by drivers who have recently had to submit urinalysis samples. That's one thing Mayfield asserted in his court papers. False Positives are a reality which even real experts agree on. The combination of medications Mayfield took do give false positives for meth as well as a positive for amphetamines which are an active ingredient in Adderall. ADD/ADHD isn't just something kids suffer from. Adults have it too, contary to what Dr Black might say. And judges don't normally grant an injunction unless there are some merits to the case and it appears the Federal judge thinks Mayfield is right about the false positive. As to the car at Daytona, it takes more than a couple days to prep one and he had no sponsor. And since Gunselman's sponsor considered Mayfield to be damaged goods,he had no reason the be there. But as with anything, draw your own conlcusions and make your own decisions.
who knows what is true here. I worked in industrial construction where we had to test every time we started a new job. I've seen people who I knew were clean bust the test and people who were clearly dirty pass.
Keep fighting those charges. NASCAR NEEDS owner/driver teams and so does the sport. I recently got a hot test from medication the V.A. put me on for PTSD fron Viet-nam and had to fight to prove i'm not a drug addict. Certain combinations of over the counter medicines can cause all type of results. Let's give him the benefit of the dought. We all know more than a few drivers in the series are pot heads.I can understand sponsors having a tough time with this but Jeremy should go racing.
If it is proven that Jeremy did in fact do meth, then I have no sympathy for him. But, if it turns out that the combinations of drugs he was on caused this false positive then Nascar owes him a bunch of money for defamation of charactor, loss of income, among other things. Hey, I got an idea, let Nascar test him every week and have Brian France take one too every week. Reckon Brian would go along with that? Brian had an accident a couple of years ago and it was rumored that he was a little tipsy. Now, we all know it's dangerous to race on drugs but think about all the innocent people Brian may have endangered if in fact he was under the influence of something. The problem is, unless Jeremy can prove his innocents, Nascar will spend all their big bucks appealing and counter appealing until Jeremy is so broke he can't continue to fight. You don't get nothing on the big Nascar. If he is innocent, I sure hate to see Nascar ruin his life and career.
I want to belive the guy... Really, I do. However, from my understanding Jeremy did not disclose he was using Adderall when he provided the sample. Only after he had a positive test did he admit he had taken the ADD drug. So my question is why did he not notify NASCAR he was taking Adderall? He could have saved a lot of agony if he had held a press conference when the announcement was made, explain why he did not inform NASCAR of the Adderall, and say he was wrong for that. Then, he could have said that he would do whatever NASCAR wanted in order to be reinstated. Instead, he decided to take NASCAR on... Just like he has with every owner he has driven for. Unfortunatly, I don't think he will ever recover from this.
Why would a race car driver do speed? The engine needs the rpm's, not his head. I believe this is a NASCAR attempt to blackball Jeremy, and they're doing a good job. But as Larry says, if indeed he's clean, NASCAR will definitely have to ante up.
I need to ask these questions of all you Nascar fans. Do you believe driving with a concussion is impaired driving? Well if you do, Is it Ok to lie about it and continue to race? Can Jeff Burton who has been so vocal on Jeremy putting him at risk, also submit to testing for lingering effects of the concussion he suffered? Can Dale Jr. do it too? With the way Dale Jr. is driving and giving interviews, I would say it is still bothering him. After all they're not drug users, so its simple right?
NASCAR is just another good story gone bad. They are headed by rich, bloated, we-will-do-what-we-desire to blast anybody out of the water. This is a deliberate attempt to get Jeremy OUT of their racetracks so other non-entities (probably related to the Frances) can take over. Their so-called drug policies are so lame and were never defined by them until all of this hit the fan!
As for Dale Jr, when you have lots of Daddy's millions, you yourself no longer have the fire under you to race or to win. He is no superstar of the track as we have seen.
Jeremy should write a tell-all book, and tell us all about what really goes on behind closed garage doors!
My conclusion - Innocent NASCAR is messed up with ther testing proceedures - PERIOD! But if they think they are fine or "The Best", why did they change them since accusing Mayfield?
Here's a good book for any NASCAR fan to read.
You will be shocked.
The Dirt Under the Asphalt: An Underground History of Stock Car Racing (released around april 2009)
You can read excerpts on BORDERS web site.
I'll give JM benefit of the doubt. he may be the victim of payback before I would say additiction. He has angered alot of people. and as far as ADHD, maybe he did not want to make it public and mistakingly not thinking Adderal would show up. Let it play out in court - where the truth will come out.
I feel Jeremey is the victim of a bad choice by NASCAR. Knowing he would be scrutinized for having ADHD or side effects from medication; he kept a secret from not nessessarily NASCAR but from the media that can be so brutal to stars. Jeremey's tack record should prove he's not an addict. If it is "Momma I want Some" I think there is more to this story and it will come out later. It's really sad that Jeremey's reputation had to suffer because someone has a grudge or vindictiveness against him. I hope everyone realizes this has been all a mistake and let Jeremey get back to what he does best. He will prove his character and performance again. I think NASCAR needs to level their playing field and stop singling out certain team players. Good Luck to Jeremey and his team who has also suffered tremendously from all this.
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