Jeremy Mayfield’s suspension last month inspired my Drug Tests Don’t Lie post and the events that have unfolded since have only lessened the chance in my eyes that he is guilt free. Now he is bringing legal action against NASCAR and Aegis Sciences Corp., which administers the drug tests.
His complaint charges that NASCAR did not give him a chance to defend his innocence and that Aegis violated federal guidelines that require backup testing of second samples to be conducted by a different laboratory service provider. Edmunds Inside Line
No legal eagle here, but certainly not a stranger to people crying foul and looking for a technicality to beat a dirty sample- Mayfield seems to be doing just that. No longer fighting to prove he was clean, he has instead concentrated on trying to win in the court of public opinion by scrutinizing NASCAR’s rigid and zero tolerance drug policy. NASCAR though has never alluded to anything other than a strict policy, and in fact has made it a selling point for their sport. I don’t think Mayfield will have much luck with this argument.
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I would say the odds are pretty strong now that the tests were valid, Mayfield had drugs in his system that could not be accounted for in legit or prescribed dosages, and that while he may not have even purposely broke the rules- he did nonetheless. NASCAR has deep pockets but probably has no more desire to see this issue strung out in public sullying the sport; I look for Mayfield to back off quietly and NASCAR to willingly let him take the steps to get back in the driver’s seat.
