The latest twist in the Jeremy Mayfield saga came this week when NASCAR tried to perform a drug test on the driver that turned into an hours-long episode of missed appointments, missed directions and lost integrity.
It would have been funny if there wasn’t so much riding on it.
Mayfield has been suspended since May 9, when it was revealed he failed a NASCAR drug test. He took NASCAR to court and was granted a temporary injunction last week to return to racing while the case proceeds. NASCAR has since appealed that ruling, confirming that Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines.
In the meantime, according to the Associated Press, Mayfield was informed on Monday afternoon that he needed to report to a NASCAR-chosen facility within two hours to be given another drug test. One might imagine Mayfield would want to eagerly abide, given all of the suspicion surrounding his earlier failed drug test.
If Mayfield wanted to prove he was clean, this was his chance. But he has instead created even more doubt no matter what the test result reveals.
Mayfield, according to the story, said he did not get the message right away. He also did not immediately comply, missing the two-hour window when he was required to submit to the test. When he later tried to find another NASCAR-approved facility to take the test, he reportedly claimed he got lost. Instead of accepting directions, he drove to a testing facility chosen by his lawyers that wasn't approved by NASCAR. Not surprisingly, NASCAR wanted its own test.
So testing officials and a security guard finally showed up at Mayfield’s house and the driver complied, seven hours after the initial NASCAR request. It was enough time to raise the question of whether he was trying to avoid the test or buy time to alter the result.
Whether Mayfield trusts NASCAR's testing procedures or not, he isn't above having to submit to them. It's still NASCAR's race series. He has to follow the rule. And besides, Mayfield has said he would submit to NASCAR testing as part of reinstatement. But his attorney criticized NASCAR's handling of the test, including a requirement that a testing official watch Mayfield provide the urine sample, and claimed NASCAR was trying to set up his client.
Yet Mayfield's actions did little to bolster his claim that he is an innocent victim of NASCAR's heavy-handed behavior. Whether he wins or loses in court, he already has lost any high ground in that argument.
After what happened on Monday, what driver in the NASCAR garage would trust him now?
Comments
I'd be more prone to trust Mayfield than NA$CAR. Even if the tests show him to be a user, NA$CAR has bungled this so badly that I wouldn't trust them to mow my yard...
Im glad you always get your emails/voicemails in a timely manner.
At this point, with the litigation in progress, it would seem nascar would inform Mayfield's lawyer to reach Mayfield if they wanted to be absolutely sure Mayfield got notified.
Go back to the first of this mess
Mayfield said he had not been notified in writing, something he had to have to defend himself.
nascar insisted they had notified him {what they repeatedly didnt say was that it was verble notification not written}
Nascar likes to play with their food before they eat it. In this case a Mayfield sandwich.
don't forget the Long burger they gobbled up and now I hear the 21 car was confiscated after a 16th place finish at Michigan.
who's next??
I say do a hair sample test and be done with this circus.
I think Jeremy is doing exactly what he should be doing right now, doing exactly what his lawyer tells him to do. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his getting not one but, two independent samples done both before and after Nascars test. Sounds like a very smart move by the attorney.
Who would trust Jeremy now? Why not just wait for the three results before that loaded question is asked? You can't be naive enough enough to think any driver would not race against Jeremy. Just maybe the trust some seem to have in NASCAR should be in question. They are openly bullying Jeremy because he wouldn't let him stand up for himself. Trust a NASCAR drug test now, no way in hell! Trust NASCAR over anything but greed, no way. Compare their past history to Jeremy's, who is more believable? Just sit back and wait for the out of court settlement initiated by NASCAR after a few clean drug test's. In your reporting try to remember that this is a man's reputation, his life, his livelihood.
Just remember. NASCAR drug policy says the members must divulge all medicines they are taking at the time of the initial blood draw. Jeremy did not. End of discussion.
I have known Jeremy for along time and I have never seen any evidence that he did anything other have a drink or two.
I have also been involved in NASCAR for over 25 years and it is always the same story. It's our game, play by our rules or go home. Nascar is famous for the last rule in the rulebook, "All rules subject to change at the discretion of NASCAR". They have always changed the rules to fit the situation and it all depended on who it was. If this were one of thier stars, it would have been swept under the rug and that would be it. NASCAR is the only game and they are killing their self. It's the same as the way they shoot sponsors down because it interferes with them making money. Brian France is a joke and has no clue what he is doing. In 5 years, there will only be 4 or 5 mega teams that are paying a franchise fee to NASCAR and everyone else will be excluded. Good luck with selling that to the fans, which they are loosing by the thousands. They need their chain yanked.
You have to be pretty naive to cover Na$crap and not realize that Na$crap is all about control, $$$, protecting favorites, manipulation of rules, etc, etc, etc. Pop a couple of Claritan D's, so you can CLEARLY SEE that Na$crap is doing all they can to SMEAR Mayfield and run him thru the mud. Study some Na$crap history and see how Na$crap SHAMELESSLY SMEARED Tim Richmond in the 80's.
Obviously you are a spokesman for NASCAR. As such, you have NO integrity or intelligence.
Quote: "It was enough time to raise the question of whether he was trying to avoid the test or buy time to alter the result."
Pure speculation Viv, and you're only adding fuel to the fire with comments like that before the test results are known -- if they are ever known.
Wow! Why can't you just report the facts in a manner that doesn't attempt to discredit Mayfield and let the public decide? You are obviously shilling for NASCAR and trying to further their efforts to bury Mayfield. Talk about losing trust and a lack of integrity. You definately fit both those bills Mrs. Bernstein.
lol - guess your article didn't get the responce you wanted it to, did it?! Too many people are on to Nascar's shady ways....
I just hope that Jeremy has enough money stashed away to keep his lawyer. I hope it all goes to court and Brian and NASCAR take a beating. They keep calling Jeremy a meth user based on one test - at test that many experts agree could have shown a false positive.
So do you really believe a NASCAR drug test. Ask yourself who is paying for the test.
drug-testing-solutions.net/statinabdrug.html
intuitor.com/statistics/BadTestResults.html
Specifically ADD:
additudemag.com/q&a/ask_the_add_medical_expert/1184.html
Time to take the "Police State" back!
This article by Viv just makes me sick. Nascar doesn't care that they have ruined this guys reputation, his career, and his life. I don 't trust anything Nascar says or does. I hope Jeremy wins his lawsuit and it costs Nascar billions. What jerks. Why don't they do something about all the alcoholics in the racing circuit, and start at the top.
you are the most slanderous, stupid, reporter who has ever opened her mouth on this topic. may you suffer from a personal attack such as you have instigated.
Anyone who has read my work over time will realize I am not a mouthpiece for NASCAR. Quite the opposite. I have taken the organization to task consistently for issues involving safety and racism.
I have nothing against Mayfield personally. This is about the safety of drivers and fans. If Mayfield's career has been ruined by a terrible NASCAR mistake, he will have his day in court to prove it. As he should. If NASCAR is wrong, it will pay dearly for its mistake. As it should.
In the meantime, though, safety demands that while this is being argued in court, that Mayfield remain off the track. Because if NASCAR's right, then Mayfield could be a danger to others. The rest of the drivers shouldn't have to take that risk.
This is a commentary piece. It is my belief Mayfield's actions on Monday did little to demonstrate he wants to prove his innocence. He should demand a drug test every day -- on NASCAR's dime -- to show he's clean. Instead, he delayed being tested for hours.
Both sides of the fence here:
Testing should be done by directly speaking to the driver not by message. If it is so a message was left for him that is wrong.
A proper test is perform by watching the sample being given.. yes that means the taking of the whiz is personally observed by someone. I have given test many times for employment some were done right and some not. The proper way is blue coloring is in the toilet water, water to sink in room is shut off, witness of sample given and temp of the sample given. The sample is capped and taped with initials of both parties with date and time written on the tape.
Jeremy's career was all but dead before this. He had to start his own team because he could not find a ride. He burnt too many bridges with his previous actions. Actions that are not much different than he is displaying now. He is a desperate man hanging on to a rope and slipping cause it does not have a knot at the end of it. Jeremy has always placed the blame on others.
I've received voicemails 2-3 days after they were sent. The same with text messages.There are some text messages I never got. And this is with one of the big companies, not some mom and pop operation. So I can believe Mayfield didn't get it right away. As to trusting NA$CAR, just how far can you throw the Battleship Missouri? NA$CAR totally messed their drug testing program from the beginning. Hopefully Mayfield can win his case just to teach NA$CAR a major lesson. I wonder how Brian France will feel about working for Mayfield when this is all done and over with? LOL
Three (3) drug tests in one day did little to demonstrate he wants to prove his innocence? Sounds like there was some effort to me. The telephone tag going on could have easily been manipulated from the Na$crap side. This article had a pro-Na$crap bias, just like others she's had posted on the Mayfield saga on other sites. The Na$crap line all the way.
Every driver in the garage will trust Jeremy more than they will NASCAR...but right now the paychecks come from NASCAR not Jeremy. Anyone who actually trusts NASCAR is just begging for the same thing to happen to them that happened to Fireball Roberts (he died by the way after trusting NASCAR).
As fr as trusting you, Viv, mind telling everyone what the Active X control is that insists on being accepted in order to read your article? How much trust should we really put in you or any news source that does THAT without divulging it ahead of time?
In fairness to Ms. Bernstein I was highly critical of what I viewed as her biased, anti-NASCAR article in the early stages of this situation. Innocent or not, Mayfield's actions Monday are what one could expect from someone concerned about the results of a drug test - be hard to get ahold of and delay. NASCAR has said that the judge who granted Mayfield the injunction also allowed them some latitude in testing Mayfield for drugs, so he should have been on the alert for a notice to be tested. Whether he is guilty or innocent, it does appear that Mayfield has a habit of acting like the rules don't apply to him - for instance, he did not report to Aegis the prescription medicine he was taking and Monday he made it difficult to be notified of when and where to be drug tested. Somewhat curious since his response to one of his crewmen failing a drug test early this year was to fire the employee.
Overra88ted - where do you get 3 test in one day. He gave one at HIS doctor's office and the second was when the tester from Nascar arrived at his home.
Guilty heck yeah when he whines about being watched to give a sample. Samples can have stuff added to them to taint them in favor of a negative results. Also when not being watched urine from anyone can be put in the collection bottle. He sure is not acting like a person who is willing to go to any length to prove he is innocent. Excuse after excuse along with a whine fest about being watched is not cooperation. I do agree it was wrong to leave a message to report for a test. As for being lost the receptionist offered to talk him to the site.... apparently that was not good enough for Jeremy either.
Before this incident as a driver he had hit rock bottom. That is why he became a driver owner because he could not get a ride with any owner.
Gotta wonder about an organization that harasses ONE lone driver, who incidentally hadn't even entered to run in the most current scheduled race. Went to his house? Demanded that he put his day on hold when they called? And then claim that he's "avoiding" them?
Had Nascar and their security guard showed up at my house unannounced and without MY permission to enter my property, they'd be damn luck to not have a load of buckshot aimed at their ass...
It's clear that Nascar is hell bent on ruining Mayfield, there can't be much doubt over that. But it's even more clear that even more than that that they want to demonstrate exactly what happens if you challenge them.
When Nascar is proven to have been wrong in their judgment of Mayfield and his tainted test results, I for one hopes he cleans them out and breaks their piggy-bank...
JJ - Jeremy agreed to testing any time Nascar ask for it while he was in court. So with that in mind Nascar was doing what he agreed to. If you work for a employer who does drug testing you have to go when they tell you to go. If you have a CDL license you have to go when they tell you to go. If my supervisor comes to me at work and ask for a sample I am required to give one right then and there. If I say I can not go at the time they will give me something to drink and wait with me until I can go. And I can be watched while giveing the test and the test is done by my employer which happens to be a hospital. I am happy my employer does drug testing and will always willing give a sample. This policy helps get rid of the drug users.
Evidently none of these people have ever been around a "chronic meth user". There is no way in hell that Jeremy could be running his own team and using meth like they claim. It would be almost impossible for him to hide it. He has every right to be wary of NASCAR. The other drivers that have been saying that their lives would be in danger if he was on the track need to have their heads examined.They are in alot more danger from NASCAR itself they they would ever be from Jeremy. I hope he takes them to the cleaners.
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