NASCAR reiterates argument that Jeremy Mayfield is a public danger

NASCAR wants to keep suspended Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield on the sideline until he completes a substance-abuse policy reinstatement program because it continues to consider him a danger to the public, according to documents filed Tuesday night in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

NASCAR filed its appeal Tuesday to a July 1 injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen that had forced NASCAR to temporarily reinstate Mayfield, whom NASCAR suspended for what it says was a May 1 positive test for methamphetamines. The appeals court granted NASCAR’s request for a stay of the injunction July 24, and Mayfield has been suspended since then.

“It is undisputed that having a methamphetamine user race in NASCAR events, where speeds can exceed 180 miles per hour, puts other drivers, officials and spectators at significant risk of physical harm, including death," NASCAR states in its appeal filed Tuesday.

Mayfield, who has denied using methamphetamines, contends the drug test findings that prompted his suspension resulted from a combination of prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine.

He has also contended that NASCAR must follow guidelines that regulate federal agencies. NASCAR denies that Aegis Sciences Corp., which conducts the NASCAR drug-testing program, must follow those regulations.

“Mayfield … has offered absolutely no evidence – and there is none in the record – that the May 1, 2009, Mayfield urine specimen that Aegis tested either (1) was not Mayfield’s specimen or was adulterated in some way, or (2) did not contain methamphetamine," NASCAR states in its appeal. “Aegis’ testing equipment and testing protocols are far too sophisticated to mistake a combination of Claritin-D and Adderall XR for methamphetamine, as Mayfield initially suggested." Scenedaily.com