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7 Up: discussing Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR
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Shaun Murphy writes for, among others, the National Examiner on the subject of performance enhancing drugs. He’s an endurance athlete who, while never having taken a PED himself, became disillusioned with professional sports after seeing more and more athletes cheating by the use of PED’s.
He’s now a nationally known writer and blogger on the subject of PED’s and the impact they have on sports.
Recently Shaun and I were given several questions on the current affair concerning NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield.
1. What was your reaction to NASCAR's first Mayfield methamphetamine positive test result?
Shaun Murphy: Each violation of a league’s substance abuse policy is unique, but I knew this was going to be different in the sense that the sides were 180 degrees apart with their stories until the it was revealed that Jeremy had tested positive for meth. I was surprised that a driver would test positive for that drug, but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. 
Greg Engle: when the news first came out, I tended to side with Jeremy. Having met and interacted with him on several occasions, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought his over the counter and prescription drug mix argument made sense and might just be a valid argument. Of course the more that has come out, the less inclined I’ve become to believe his side of things and I now feel that I don’t know him as well as I thought I did.
2. Did NASCAR handle the original testing process appropriately?
SM: I feel that they did. They have a program and enforced it. While Mayfield does not like the results, no other drivers have come out and said their program is a sham. If throughout this process, they learned of some areas for improvement, another win because at the end of the day unlike other sports safety is of the utmost concern for NASCAR. The drivers and the crew need to ensure that the track is a safe working environment for themselves and the fans.
GE: I think what people forget is that those inside NASCAR are professionals, not some evil monsters hell bent on taking over the world. That being said, I think NASCAR handled the test in a manner consistent with the rules and procedures used by other large organizations. After talking to several drivers and learning how NASCAR’s procedures work, I’ve only strengthened that belief. I agree Shaun that NASCAR will only learn from this and improve any weaknesses they may find making it better for any driver who will test in the future.
3. Did Mayfield have valid reasons for providing a sample to a lab at his attorneys choosing and delaying the process once NASCAR requested it including having NASCAR officials wait an hour in his house?
SM: No. If you’re clean and have nothing to hide, you’re ready, willing and able to provide a sample whenever. If he has a drug problem to the extent that has been alleged, he can let the phone go to voicemail, confer with his attorney and try to find a lab that could provide them better service or not visually verify that he provided a sample. Obtaining prescriptions through anti-aging clinics does not look good, neither does delaying the test both at his lab and at home. Some cynics naturally jump to the conclusion that he might have been looking for some assistance to pass the test.
GE: Actually Shaun, he dodged the test for nearly seven hours. He made repeated phone calls to the testing site asking for directions, and then didn’t show. He then made calls asking that he be allowed to test at a clinic of his own choosing because he couldn’t find the one provided by officials. NASCAR finally sent testers and security to his home to get a sample. And yet they still had to wait for another hour for him to show. So was the delay by Mayfield just because he’s that dumb, or because the longer you wait, the more water you can drink, the more chance you have to dilute the test results?
4. Now that a second NASCAR test has come back positive and an affidavit says he has used methamphetamines repeatedly, what is your reaction? Any change from the first result?
SM: The benefit of the doubt is gone even though he has passed several tests on his own. We don’t know how they were implemented. The affidavit is shocking and the amount of detail it provides is alarming and paints a picture of an individual with a problem who needs help. I would be disappointed if the allegations were true and another driver knew about it and didn't say anything. Not only would this driver be putting himself at risk, but he would have information that could impact the safety of all the other drivers and folks associated with the sport.
GE: It’s important to remember Shaun that Mayfield is claiming that his tests came back negative, to date he’s not actually shown those results. He’s also now claiming that Dr. Black, the person in charge of NASCAR’s testing program, intentionally tainted the second result in order to frame him. To me, Mayfield seems like a condemned man looking at the gallows in the courtyard and grasping at straws in an attempt to avoid the final walk. If anything with the second test, NASCAR went out of their way to ensure that everything is above board knowing the attention that everyone is paying. As for the affidavit I don’t think for a second that any driver ever knew that Mayfield was abusing anything. With the amount of work it takes to become a driver in NASCAR’s top series no driver would knowingly put himself or herself in a position that would jeopardize their status; a crewmember maybe, but not a driver.
5. It's on now. Mayfield has now claimed NASCAR paid his stepmother for the affidavit and then accused her of murdering his father. Is this a bad country song or really happening? What do you make of Mayfield's latest allegations?
SM: Given that his career is likely over, this appears to be a desperate late round punch that unfortunately weakens all of his prior claims.
GE: Having worked in law enforcement I know that taking a sworn affidavit from someone isn’t something that is done lightly. I agree that Mayfield is indeed gasping for air after already sinking twice and slipping below the water for a third time. All it will take is for one single witness to come forward who can corroborate the stepmothers’ allegations and you can stick a fork in Mayfield because he will be done.
6. Do you feel NASCAR was fair to Mayfield?
SM: If there wasn't a legal battle which Mayfield instituted to lift his suspension, perhaps the public would never learn the substance he tested positive for. I feel transparency is the best policy. The sport will take an initial hit, but for other drivers they will see the exact process of what happens when someone violates their substance abuse policy. Mayfield chose a nice strategy of the little guy fighting the all powerful corporate giant, but in the end, the corporate giant needs to protect the other drivers, crew members and fans.
GE: Mayfield is smart enough to know that there is a segment of the fan base that will defend anyone against anything when it comes to NASCAR. To that segment, NASCAR can do nothing right and those fans will fight against NASCAR blindly and without logic. When Mayfield was first suspended he put on his ‘golly gee wow, look what the mean men at NASCAR are doing to me’ face. Some fans started a website to take donations for Mayfield’s legal defense fund and began crying and moaning about how NASCAR was trying to railroad Mayfield out of the sport. In fact the goal of NASCAR’s drug program is to help someone who has a problem and get them back into competition.
“Our penalties are very tough,” NASCAR’s CEO Brian France told me earlier this month when I asked him what they would like the outcome of their drug program to be. “The road back is more difficult than perhaps other sports leagues, but the inherent dangers are much greater.”
“…but we really want to see someone follow the road back, get healthy and come back and race with us.”
7. How do you see this playing out for both NASCAR and Mayfield?
SM: NASCAR will take some lumps from some fans but will ultimately learn ways to improve their program. They will also have shown to others that they take this issue very seriously and there are repercussions. Rather than talking about the sport and what's happening with a possible Danica Patrick move, we're talking about meth. Mayfield looks finished. He was offered to get back into the sport if he went through NASCAR's rehabilitation program, but instead he opted to fight and it turned into an ugly, bizarre cable drama with more days in court ahead.
GE: I agree that it’s too late for Mayfield to ever salvage his career. Early on had he stood up and said ‘I’m not admitting guilt, but I’ll do what NASCAR wants me to do so I can race again’, then he may have had a shot at putting this behind him, not now though it’s way too late for that. At this point Mayfield looks like the kid who tells his mom he didn’t raid the cookie jar even though he has chocolate stains around his mouth.
As for NASCAR they will weather this little storm and find ways to strengthen their all ready tough program. It has to be tough because in other sports an athlete who takes drugs, whether they are performance enhancing or recreational, usually risk nothing more then their on-field play or their stats. In NASCAR anything that can change a competitors thought process or reactions when operating a 3400-pound steel racecar could have fatal consequences to himself or those around him, including other drivers, crewmembers or fans. With that in mind I think history will ultimately show that NASCAR did and will continue to do, the right thing.
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