Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó NASCAR has given Jeremy Mayfield’s attorney a copy of the suspended driver’s toxicology report.
Charlotte attorney Bill Diehl requested the documents from NASCAR, spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.
NASCAR complied and sent the paperwork Tuesday to Diehl, who has represented several Charlotte-area athletic figures in high-profile cases. He defended former Charlotte Hornet David Wesley, convicted of reckless driving but acquitted of racing teammate Bobby Phills right before Phills’ fatal car accident, and current New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn in civil suit against a woman who alleged a sexual assault.
Mayfield was suspended indefinitely May 9 for failing a random drug test. NASCAR has not revealed what banned substance Mayfield used.
SUSPENSION
CHARLOTTE ó NASCAR has suspended driver Carl Long for the next 12 Sprint Cup races and fined crew chief Charles Swing $200,000, the largest penalty in the sport’s history.
Swing also was suspended until Aug. 18 for using an engine too big for NASCAR’s specifications last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Long was docked a NASCAR-record 200 points. Additionally, Swing and Long were placed on probation until Dec. 31.
The record fine exceeds the $150,000 Robby Gordon’s crew chief, Frank Kerr, received in March 2008. Several drivers and owners have been docked 100 points in recent years.
Long has made just 23 career Cup starts and has not appeared in a points-paying Cup race since 2006.
He finished last in the 35-car field in a qualifying event for Saturday night’s All-Star race, dropping out after three laps because of an engine problem.
Long first had engine trouble during practice last Friday. The team switched engines and, under NASCAR rules, the sanctioning body examined the bad engine.
MOSSCONCORD ó Randy Moss is going from rule breaker to rule maker as a NASCAR owner in the Camping World Truck Series.
For much of his football career, the NFL receiver was known as much for his tangles with authority as his spectacular playmaking. But Moss has steered clear of trouble the past couple of seasons and is now using what he’s learned at the racetrack.
With Moss making a financial commitment and depending on his racing-savvy staff, the two-truck team won its first race at Kansas last month. One of his drivers, Mike Skinner, is second in the points standings.
“I know there’s been a lot of negative talk about me as a player and me as an owner and coming into NASCAR, and do I know what it takes to be successful in this league,” Moss said. “When I have the help, with the knowledge that these guys have and a lot of the talks and helpful tips that they have given me about being an owner, I think that just makes my job a little easier.”
Moss spent last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, playing the role of both owner and celebrity. He toured the garage, served as a judge for a burnout competition and was in the pits when Skinner was involved in an airborne, truck-flipping crash.
Skinner walked away from the accident Friday, and teammate Tayler Malsam finished eighth for his second top-10 of the season.
Skinner is 84 points behind series leader Ron Hornaday Jr., and Malsam, a rookie, sits 12th. It’s an impressive showing for a team that didn’t come together until weeks before the season-opener at Daytona ó and still lacks a full-time sponsor for Skinner’s car.
“Everybody is really operating as thin as we can in order to still be competitive,” Skinner said. “It’s awesome working for Randy and (co-owner) David (Dollar) because they know how to win and they also know that you’re not going to win every time we go.”