Saturday, May 30, 2009
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Suspended NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield must wait until next week for a judge to rule whether his suspension for a failed drug test should be overturned.
Mayfield filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the indefinite suspension, saying NASCAR did not follow its drug-testing policies and left the driver with no way to prove his innocence.
Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Forrest Bridges set a hearing for Wednesday, saying an immediate ruling was not necessary because Mayfield Motorsports is not racing this weekend. A different judge will preside over that hearing, but Bridges warned both sides not to discuss Mayfield’s test results in the meantime.
NASCAR suspended Mayfield on May 9 after he failed a random drug test, and Mayfield’s attorneys acknowledged in court Friday that NASCAR told Mayfield he had tested positive for amphetamines. They said the driver was taking Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Claritin-D for allergies.
According to the lawsuit, the medical review officer informed Mayfield on May 7 that his “A” sample had tested positive.
NASCAR has said that Mayfield requested the backup “B” sample be tested the next day, May 8. But in the court documents Mayfield says he never requested or gave permission for the “B” sample to be tested.
“Despite the fact that Mayfield had 72 hours to request that his Sample B be tested by a laboratory of his Mayfield’s choosing, NASCAR, through its agents and without Mayfield’s written or oral permission, consent or knowledge, tested Sample B on May 9, before the 72 hours had passed,” the lawsuit said. “Consequently, there is no clean Sample B Bottle for Mayfield to test. NASCAR, Aegis, Dr. Black and Aukerman’s conduct violates the Guidelines and Procedure. There is no unopened sample to confirm or refute Aegis’ test results.”
That, Mayfield’s attorneys argued, left him with few options if the court doesn’t intervene.
“We just didn’t agree to travel the road to recovery, because we don’t need to be on that highway,” Mayfield attorney Bill Diehl told the court. “Jeremy Mayfield isn’t a drug abuser or user.”
In the lawsuit, Mayfield specifically called out NASCAR chairman Brian France and Dr. David Black, the administrator of NASCAR’s drug-testing program, for comments they have made about the case.
“France and Black made such statements out of spite, personal ill will and personal malice toward Mayfield with the express intention of damaging his personal and business reputation and making him an example of NASCAR’s power to suspend a driver/team owner …”
The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.