Mayfield hasn't joined in debate - or race

Thursday, Jul. 02, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Jeremy Mayfield was a no-show at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.

That didn’t quiet the wide-ranging opinions of his fellow drivers about a federal judge’s decision to lift the owner/driver's indefinite suspension for failing a NASCAR drug test.

Much of Thursday passed with media and drivers waiting to see if Mayfield’s Sprint Cup Series team would arrive in time to enter Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. His team never showed and, as far as could be determined, Mayfield never stepped onto the speedway property.

“Jeremy and his legal team asked for a preliminary injunction for emergency relief because it was necessary, apparently, to come here and compete at Daytona,” said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

“So, apparently, he’s not here and it appears he’s not going to compete this weekend, which raises the question of how much an emergency it really was.”

Mayfield’s only opportunity now for participating in Saturday night’s race is as a relief driver, but that can happen only if Cup series director John Darby approves a driver change.

While it appeared Mayfield’s return would wait for next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, the fallout from Tuesday’s judicial decision continued.

“I’m comfortable with being on the race track with Jeremy Mayfield, 100 percent,” said driver Mark Martin. “I feel that NASCAR needs to have the authority to say whether or not that you drive. I don’t know anything about judges.

“I think that somebody is wrong,” Martin added. “Either Jeremy or NASCAR is wrong. I don’t know which one, but whichever one is wrong is really hurting the other.”

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen in Charlotte issued a temporary injunction to allow Mayfield to attempt races while his case against NASCAR proceeds. NASCAR indefinitely suspended Mayfield on May 9 for testing positive for methamphetamine.

Mayfield sued over the suspension and NASCAR has since filed a countersuit. NASCAR is still considering whether to appeal Mullen’s ruling.

Mullen’s decision didn’t sit well with driver Ryan Newman, one of the more vocal defenders of NASCAR’s drug-testing policy.

“A federal judge releasing someone to drive without clarifying everything, that’s not cool,” he said. “People make mistakes. I hope the judge didn’t make one.”

Mullen said if Mayfield returns to the track he must comply with any NASCAR requests to further test him.

NASCAR officials have said it takes about four days to get results after a test.

“One thing that I disagree with the judge on is that my safety is important to me and if there’s an instant test available then I think the judge’s opinion is 100 percent right,” said driver Jeff Burton.

“At the same time, from Jeremy’s perspective, if the judge ruled that it can be questioned then it should be questioned and he should have the ability to look into it.

“It’s a tough situation for anybody to make that decision because he potentially puts my safety in jeopardy with that decision. The other decision potentially puts Jeremy’s career in jeopardy, so what do you do?”

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