CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two months after a positive drug test for methamphetamines, Jeremy Mayfield is getting ready to return to NASCAR.
U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction to allow the driver to get back behind the wheel at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.
“This is huge for us,” Mayfield said. “This means more to me probably than any race I’ve ever won or anything.”
“The likelihood of a false positive in this case is quite substantial,” Mullen said as he ruled in Mayfield’s favor after about two hours of arguments, including NASCAR’s contention that Mayfield is a danger to the sport after testing positive for high amounts of a dangerous, illegal drug.
But Mullen sided with Mayfield’s attorney, Bill Diehl, who argued the test results would only be accurate if Mayfield were a habitual meth user. If Mayfield used the drug at the levels the NASCAR test indicated, Diehl suggested Mayfield would be “either a walking zombie or he’s dead.”
“His teeth were never rotting out, his eyes were not sunken,” Diehl said. “He never displayed any characteristics that are commonly seen by everyone among people who use meth.”
Mullen ruled the “harm to Mr. Mayfield significantly outweighs the harm to NASCAR” in issuing the injunction.
To address NASCAR’s concerns of allowing someone who tested positive for an illegal drug back on the track, Mullen said NASCAR can test Mayfield constantly and ask for a hair sample “to determine if he’s been a meth-head or not.”
Footnotes.
Former drivers-turned-owners Glen Wood and Richard Childress are among the 25 nominees for the first NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class. NASCAR released the two names ahead of the announcement of all nominees tonight.
• Play-by-play announcer Bill Weber will not call the last two races of TNT’s NASCAR coverage. The cable network said Ralph Sheheen will replace Weber but gave no explanation for the switch.
The Associated Press
