NASCAR: Mayfield's last chance

Monday, June 29, 2009 11:51 PM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

By Jenna Fryer

Associated PressCHARLOTTE — Jeremy Mayfield will go head-to-head with NASCAR this week in what very well may be his last shot at racing again this season.

If a federal judge agrees Wednesday to lift his indefinite suspension for a failed random drug test, Mayfield has indicated he'll go straight to Daytona International Speedway to attempt to resurrect his career.

But if the decision goes for NASCAR, then Mayfield is in for a long legal battle that will potentially destroy him both personally and professionally.

As the first driver suspended under a toughened new drug policy, Mayfield was thrust into a career-killing drama that's mushroomed since a random sample collected May 1 came back positive for what NASCAR deemed "a dangerous, illegal, banned substance."

He immediately denied drug use, and has blamed his positive result on a mix of Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Claritin-D for allergies. His explanation confused NASCAR's competitors and forced chairman Brian France to address the drug policy in a rare town hall meeting.

The past 30 days have been a flurry of legal activity, culminating in last week's filing of hundreds of pages of documents as both sides prepared for their showdown in U.S. District Court.