Mayfield convinces judge to lift suspension

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Two months after a positive drug test for methamphetamines, Jeremy Mayfield is getting ready to return to NASCAR.

U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction to allow the driver to get back behind the wheel at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

“This is huge for us,” Mayfield said. “This means more to me probably than any race I’ve ever won or anything.”

Concluding the “likelihood of a false positive in this case is quite substantial,” Mullen said as he ruled in Mayfield’s favor after about two hours of arguments, including NASCAR’s contention that Mayfield is a danger to the sport after testing positive for high amounts of a dangerous, illegal drug.

But Mullen sided with Mayfield’s attorney, Bill Diehl, who argued the test results would only be accurate if Mayfield were a habitual meth user. If Mayfield used the drug at the levels the NASCAR test indicated, Diehl suggested Mayfield would be “either a walking zombie or he’s dead.”

“His teeth were never rotting out, his eyes were not sunken,” Diehl said. “He never displayed any characteristics that are commonly seen by everyone among people who use meth.”

In an affidavit filed last week, Mayfield denied ever using methamphetamines and said he didn’t know how he failed the May 1 random drug test. He was suspended eight days later.

Mullen ruled the “harm to Mr. Mayfield significantly outweighs the harm to NASCAR” in issuing the injunction, which doesn’t settle the larger civil suit filed by Mayfield or NASCAR’s countersuit.

“We’re disappointed, but we’ll honor the court’s wishes. That’s where we stand,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said. “I’m not going to comment on what we’re going to do yet on the next legal process.”

To address NASCAR’s concerns of allowing someone who tested positive for an illegal drug back on the track, Mullen said NASCAR can test Mayfield constantly and ask for a hair sample “to determine if he’s been a meth-head or not.”

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Mayfield will be required to undergo a drug test if he attempts to qualify for Saturday night’s race. Mayfield said he gladly would submit to any tests.

He also might have to win over some drivers. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson submitted affidavits last week as part of a NASCAR filing. In the court documents, the drivers said they are not “willing to put my life at risk driving a race car on a NASCAR track with drivers testing positive for drugs …”