Jeremy Mayfield given indefinite suspension for violating NASCAR's drug use policy

Racing in NASCAR requires split second timing and the conditioned reflexes of an athlete who has spent thousands of hours behind the wheel of a race car in an unimpaired condition. NASCAR seeks to protect racers attempting to maneuver 3,000-pound stock cars moving at velocities approaching 200 mph, from the possibly deadly impairing effects of over the counter medications or even a cardiac beta blocker.

NASCAR’s drug policy isn’t one aimed at just performance enhancing drugs; they have an expanded mandate that also includes drugs that impair driving ability as well. NASCAR tests competitors for a wider array of substances than other sports, and also tests for lower concentrations of certain drugs as well as over use. The real issue in NASCAR with drug use, is safety of both of drivers and the fans, and the zero-tolerance program in place is an indication of how serious they are about these issues. They have a large, extensive profile of drugs they test for and they test for very low concentration levels because of the safety concerns with even small amounts of most substances.

The testing of NASCAR drivers is conducted by Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corp., which has had the honor of testing NASCAR drivers for almost two decades. The program is headed by Dr. David Black a man of many of accomplishments who is undeniably qualified to implement NASCAR’s tough but absolutely necessary substance abuse program.

Black travelled to Vanderbilt University in 1986 to create a doping laboratory to allow for testing of athletes for performance enhancing substances but while he was there also helped the NFL create and begin a program to test its members for anabolic steroids. In the intervening years he has worked with NCAA Division I colleges, Major League Baseball Players Association, the IndyCar series, before starting a relationship with NASCAR IN 1988.

Aegis is a firm he started after leaving Vanderbilt, which was just before he started to work with the NFL and their substance abuse testing program.

“Image: Newscom”

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR’s Drug Use Policy

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Stewart Haas Racing – No. 4 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- JJ Yeley
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Post from: EveryJoe

Silly Season Tracker – Updated 8/8

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 1 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car
- Stewart Haas Racing – No. 66 or No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton
- Dario Franchitti

Post from: EveryJoe

Silly Season Tracker – Updated 7/19

Image details: Best Buy 400 served by picapp.com

With the Sprint Cup Series now just one week away from reaching the official halfway marker of 2008, DYN is going to take a look at the 5 most disappointing teams and drivers in the series so far this year:

5. Ryan Newman – no. 12 car – Penske Racing – After missing out on the Chase for the Cup playoffs in each of the past two seasons, Newman came into 2008 – his contract year with Penske – with high hopes of finding some of the magic that he and the no. 12 team had a little earlier in his career. Things got off to a great start when Ryan gave Roger Penske his first-ever restrictor plate win when he won the season-opening Daytona 500, but the season’s been downhill ever since. Newman’s finished inside the top-five only once more since then, and has slipped down to 15th in the standings.

4. Dario Franchitti – no. 40 car – Chip Ganassi Racing – Nobody should have been expecting this team to tally any marks in the win column in Dario’s rookie campaign in the Sprint Cup Series, but sharing a team with Juan Pablo Montoya, many believed that he would be able to use a lot of the second-hand information from JPM’s transition into stock cars last year to his advantage. That has not been the case thus far, however, as Dario has failed to finish inside of the top-20 in any of the ten races he’s competed in this year. Even more disappointing is the fact that he failed to qualify for the road course race in Sonoma, the place where Montoya picked up his first NASCAR win and many felt that Dario would get his best finish to-date. 

3. Elliott Sadler – no. 19 car – Gillette-Evernham Motorsports – Once considered a perrenial Chase contender while racing for Yates Racing, Sadler came to Evernham Motorsports with high hopes when he relieved Jeremy Mayfield of his driving duties in the no. 19 car. Things haven’t really panned out so far, though, as Elliott just recently picked up his first top-five of the season last weekend at Loudon. They have also been unable to improve on their points position from last year. In 2007 he finished 25th in the standings, which is also where he currently sits 17 races into 2008.

2. Jamie McMurray – no. 26 car – Roush-Fenway Racing: In a NASCAR season that’s been dominated with Silly Season headlines, McMurray is one of the remaining drivers that still finds his name on the potential chopping block. Even if he survives 2008 with a job in-hand, he can pretty count on ‘09 being his last year with the organization unless he performs anything short of a miracle. 17 races into the season, McMurray finds himself with only 3 top-ten finishes, and no top-five efforts to show. 2006 – McMurray’s first season with Roush – marked the worst points season of Jamie’s career when he finished 25th. After climbing up to 17th last season, many people felt that he and the no. 26 team were finally beginning to develop some chemistry, but that has not been the case. He dropped as low as 36th in the standings earlier in the year following Bristol. They’ve been able to find a level of consistency since then, but they still find themselves down in 24th in the points, with very little hope of making the Chase.

1. Kurt Busch – no. 2 car – Penske Racing: After the addition of Pat Tryson as the Crew Chief, the team made a late-summer charge in 2007 to get Kurt into the Chase for the Cup, and the they came into 2008 with high expectations across the board. Kurt just recently picked up his first victory of the season last weekend at New Hampshire, but the car still tremendously lacked the desired performance. Furthermore, the win gave Kurt only his third top-ten finish of the season. The team finished 8th in points in 2007, but currently sit 18th overall and find themselves 222 points behind 12th place, Kevin Harvick.

Post from: EveryJoe

List of the Week: Most Disappointing Runs Through the First-Half of ‘08

Teams Without an Assigned 2009 Driver:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 01 car
- Hendrick Motorsports – No. 5 car
- Penske Racing – No. 12 car
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 15 car
- Wood Brothers Racing – No. 21 car
- Bill Davis Racing – No. 22 car
- Yates Racing – No. 28 car
- Richard Childress Racing – No. 33 car
- Furniture Row Motorsports – No. 34 car
- Chip Ganassi Racing – No. 41 car
- Haas CNC Racing – No. 66 car
- Haas CNC Racing – No. 70 car

Drivers Without a Definitive 2009 Ride:
- Regan Smith
- Casey Mears
- Ryan Newman
- Paul Menard
- Dave Blaney
- Marcos Ambrose
- Travis Kvapil
- Tony Raines
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Riggs
- Johnny Sauter
- Mark Martin
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Brad Keselowski
- David Stremme
- Jacques Villeneuve
- Kenny Wallace
- Ken Schrader
- Ward Burton

Other Potential Rides & Drivers that Could Become Available
(Pending variable circumstances):
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. – No. 1 Car – Current Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
- Gillette-Evernham Motorsports – No. 10 Car – Current Driver: Patrick Carpentier
- Joe Gibbs Racing – No. 20 Car – Current Driver: Tony Stewart
- Roush Fenway Racing - No. 26 Car – Current Driver: Jamie McMurray
- Penske Racing – No. 77 Car – Current Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.

Post from: EveryJoe

2009 Silly Season Tracker

Recent Pole Winners:
2007 – Jeff Gordon, JJ Yeley
2006 – Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne
2005 – Joe Nemecheck, Ryan Newman

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Carl Edwards – 112.3
2. Kurt Busch – 106.8
3. Greg Biffle – 105.4
4. Jimmie Johnson - 104.7
5. Matt Kenseth – 104.1

Best Average Finishes (from racingone.com):
1. Carl Edwards – 7.3
2. Matt Kenseth – 9.7
3. Denny Hamlin – 10.0
4. Jeff Gordon – 12.5
5. Martin Truex Jr – 12.5

Most Wins – David Pearson (9)
Most Wins (Active) – Bobby LaBonte (3)
Most Poles – David Pearson (10)
Most Poles (Active) – Jeff Gordon (5)
Most Top 5’s – Cale Yarbrough (21)
Most Top 10’s – Bill Elliott (29)
Most Manufacturer Wins – Ford (30)
Track Qualifying Record – Ryan Newman (37.069 seconds / 2005)

Odd Facts:
- David Pearson, Cale Yarbrough, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, and Mark Martin have combined to win 45 of the 77 Cup races at Michigan, or 58.4% of the races.
- The track record for a 400 mile race at Michigan is 173.997 mph, whereas the record for a 500 miler is only 139.254 mph. That’s an average 34 mph slower for that extra hundred miles! This weekend’s race is 400 miles.
- A Cup race at Michigan has gone caution free on three separate occassions, most recently in 1999. The most cautions at MIS? Only 10, which came in August of 2006.
- Five times has a Michigan race ended with only 2 drivers on the lead lap. The last time was in 1975.
- Roush-Fenway Racing has more wins at Michigan (10) than they do any other track.
- A driver has won from the pole position at Michigan 15 times. Last weekend at Pocono marked the first time this season such a feat had been accomplished.

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner – Greg Biffle
2nd Place – Carl Edwards
3rd Place – Tony Stewart
4th Place – Kasey Kahne
5th Place – Matt Kenseth
6th Place – Jimmie Johnson

Lock of the Week – Carl Edwards
Sleeper Pick – Brian Vickers
Steer Clear of – Clint Bowyer

Post from: EveryJoe

Fantasy Preview: Michigan

Image details: Best Buy 400 served by picapp.com

For many viewers, about the only real excitement during Sunday’s Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway came on lap 18 of the 400 lap event when Elliott Sadler – in an effort to clear the lapped car of Jeremy Mayfield – slid down the track and clipped the nose of David Gilliland, setting off a chain reaction that collected a total of twelve cars. Included in the accident were six drivers that entered the day in the top-12 in points, including Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Tony Stewart. As fate would have it, none of these drivers fell out of the top-12, but there was quite a bit of shakeup in the points themselves, nonetheless.

For Stewart, it marked the second time in just three races that his car had been in an accident that also involved Sadler, the first of which came on the second lap of the Dodge Challenger 500 a few weeks ago at Darlington. In that event, Sadler’s car bobbled getting into Turn 2 and got into Stewart, knocking the toe of Tony’s car in the process. While Sadler was forced to retire to the garage, Stewart found himself two laps down. Despite being able to repair the car enough to give Smoke the fastest car on the track by the end of the race, he was never able to get back onto the lead lap, and thus was forced to settle with a 21st place finish.

Following the race this past Sunday, Stewart sarcastically assumed responsibility for the accident, stating, “If I’m within a half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It’s my fault. I hit him. When I hit him, it caused all the guys behind us to wreck. So, it’s my fault.”

Stewart has been on the receiving end of a lot of bad luck this season, which also includes a cut tire on the final lap of the Coca Cola 600 that robbed him of his first win of the season, and he’s now dropped to 11th in points, just 35 points ahead of 13th place, David Ragan. But, as Smoke fans already know, not only is it now officially “his time of the year,” but Stewart also has a habit of performing better when he adds a bit of attitude to his walk. A short little feud with Sadler could be the ticket.

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR Rivals: Sadler Wrecks Stewart … Again!

Starting next to Greg on the outside of the front row will be former Roush-Fenway Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, who came in 0.188 seconds slower than Biffle. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-six qualifiers for the race. In rows four and five will be the cars of Jeff Gordon, AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, and Jeremy Mayfield, who is filling in for the injured Dario Franchitti in the no. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing car.

Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton couldn’t find the speed they were looking for, as they all qualified 14th, 22nd, 25th, and 38th respectively. Failing to make the race were Jason Leffler, who got behind the wheel of the no. 70 Haas CNC Racing car this week, and Chad McCumbee, who was subbing in for Kyle Petty.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Biff is Fastest at the Monster Mile

Recent Pole Winners:
2007 – Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman
2006 – Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman
2005 – Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Greg Biffle – 113.7
2. Matt Kenseth – 111.9
3. Mark Martin – 104.4
4. Jimmie Johnson – 101.5
5. Kyle Busch – 101.5

Best Driver Average Finishes (from racingone.com):
1. Carl Edwards – 9.1
2. Ryan Newman – 10.0
3. Martin Truex Jr. – 10.5
4. Tony Stewart – 10.6
5. Mark Martin – 11.1

Most Wins – Bobby Allison, Richard Petty (7)
Most Wins / Active Driver – Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin (3)
Most Poles – David Pearson (6)
Most Top 5’s – Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin (19)
Most Top 10’s – Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd (26)
Most Manufacturer Wins – Chevrolet (28)
Track Qualifying Record – Jeremy Mayfield (22.288 seconds / 2004)

TZ’s Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner – Tony Stewart
2nd Place – Greg Biffle
3rd Place – Jimmie Johnson
4th Place – Kyle Busch
5th Place – Martin Truex Jr.
6th Place – Jeff Burton

Lock of the Week – Tony Stewart
Sleeper Pick – Juan Pablo Montoya
Steer Clear of – Kevin Harvick

Post from: EveryJoe

Fantasy Preview: Dover

Image details: NASCAR Testing Day 1 served by picapp.com

Dario Franchitti, driver of the no. 40 Target car for Chip Ganassi Racing, returned to the track on Tuesday for the first time since incurring his ankle injury a month ago at Talladega. Dario was on-hand for NASCAR’s test session at Pocono Raceway in preparation for the upcoming Pocono 500 two weeks from now which the husband of movie star, Ashley Judd, plans to participate in.

Since the injury to Franchitti back on April 26th in the Nationwide’s Aaron’s 312, car owner, Chip Ganassi, has used an extended list of contacts to keep the seat of the no. 40 car filled for the interim. Ganassi turned to Penske Racing’s test driver, David Stremme, for the Cup race at Talladega, and then Ken Schrader for Richmond, and then most recently, former Ganassi driver, Sterling Marlin, at Darlington and last weekend at Lowe’s. The team failed to qualify for the Dan Lowry 400 in Richmond, and posted an average finish of just 31.0 in the other three events.

Though Franchitti is considering possibly competing in this weekend’s Nationwide race at Dover, the Heluva Good! 200, Ganassi plans to run Jeremy Mayfield in the car for Sunday’s Cup race. Mayfield has been out of a ride since his release from Haas CNC Racing earlier in the season, and many people feel that he has just about run out of anymore good potential opportunities for the future. After touring with the soldiers in Iraq for 12 days earlier in the month, Mayfield now must concentrate on putting together a solid run this weekend if he hopes to have a shot at landing a solid ride for 2009.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ganassi Slates Mayfield for Dover; Franchitti for Pocono