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Who can trust Mayfield now?
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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?
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