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Jeremy Mayfield’s
indefinite suspension
after testing positive
for a banned substance
got one expert thinking,
according to a news
article posted by
ESPN’s David Newton
published on Tuesday
morning.
Dr. Charles Yesalis, a
Penn State Professor who
has done studies on drug
testing in the past,
said suspending an
athlete for an undefined
substance wouldn’t go
over well in the NFL,
NBA, MLB and other
professional sports
organizations --
organizations with
players’ unions.
“That just kind of
violates your sense of
fair play,” Yesalis told
ESPN. “It never
would fly in MLB or the
NFL because they have a
union.”
Along with franchising
NASCAR, the idea of a
drivers’ union has been
tossed around for years,
and the forgone
conclusion is that it
would be a bad idea.
Even without a banned
substances list out in
the open and Mayfield’s
positive test for a
negative substance up in
the air, it’s a bad
idea.
NASCAR has been good
about honoring the
complaints of upset
drivers -- and if they
want a list, they’ll
eventually get it.
When the drivers said
they wanted Lowe’s Motor
Speedway repaved after a
disastrous Coke 600 in
2005, they got it. When
they wanted a safer car,
they got it.
“The drivers don’t have
a union, but if somebody
did that to me (like
NASCAR did to Mayfield)
I’d go get a nasty
lawyer. What if somebody
in management or
ownership doesn’t like
you? They can use that
as a weapon against
you,” Yesalis told
ESPN.
In the past, the only
weapons NASCAR has used
are those of second
chance. In the case of
former Busch Series
drivers Shane Hmiel, a
third chance to pass a
drug test before Hmeil
was banned from NASCAR
competition.
Tyler Walker and Kevin
Grubb were both
reinstated after failing
a test, too.
Right now, though, drug
testing isn’t the
priority for drivers who
know they’re innocent,
including Dale Earnhardt
Jr. The driver of the
No. 88 car was more
concerned about the
handling of his car than
Mayfield’s positive test
last weekend at
Darlington.
“I don’t do drugs, so I
don’t have nothing to
worry about,” Earnhardt
Jr. said.
The top levels of
NASCAR’s management do
listen. They need to
keep the driving forces
of America’s most
prestigious racing
series happy, and that’s
the stars of the Sprint
Cup Series.
Arbitration between
NASCAR and its drivers
isn’t needed.
Deep down, Brian France
knows that NASCAR needs
Earnhardt Jr., Jeff
Gordon, Tony Stewart and
Kasey Kahne more than
those drivers need
NASCAR. The big guns
already have money,
fame, and talent, and
could exercise the three
in almost any racing
series around the world
if they wished.
So when someone decides
it’s a bad idea to not
know what tests positive
and what
over-the-counter
medicines and
supplements are approved
by NASCAR, they’ll make
a list.
Right now, though,
drivers seem content
with the system.
“That policy is in
place, and it’s there
for a reason,” Jimmie
Johnson said. “If you
use something that’s
illegal, per the
substance abuse policy,
you get in trouble. It
is what it is.”
The drug policy is what
it is, just as NASCAR’s
union-less existence of
good communication and
mutual respect is what
it is.
And it’s working. |
