'It's unfortunate, serious,' Gordon says
Sunday, May. 10, 2009
DARLINGTON, S.C. - Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said NASCAR’s suspension of owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield sends “a big message.”
“I think when they brought the new drug policy along, everybody knew how serious it was when they send you to specialists that do testing and you know there is random testing done by those same individuals every week,” he said. “You know you have to take it serious.
“I think it’s very unfortunate for Jeremy, but it’s going to send a big message through this garage area to make sure we are treating this sport as professionally as it deserves to be.”
Gordon said he wasn’t shocked that a driver tested positive, but still surprised.
“You’re always surprised – surprised it was Jeremy. There are too many guys out there, and you know somebody is going to make a mistake,” he said.
“We’ve heard of other instances outside of the Cup series. I think it’s just very unfortunate for the sport, for Jeremy, for everybody. It definitely puts a black eye on it. We’ll take the blows and move on.”
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