Sprint Cup driver - failed drug test?

[Moderator1]

According to the ever-reliable Facebook updates (and this one is from someone in our business and on our board), AP reports a Sprint Cup driver failed a drug test. News conference soon.
Anybody see anything, know anything in advance of that?

 

[imjustagirl]

Press conference at 6. I've heard two names, but not confident posting them here.

Neither are top-line guys.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Press conference at 6. I've heard two names, but not confident posting them here.

Neither are top-line guys.

Do you know if it's gonna be carried live by ESPN or SPEED TV?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Press conference at 6. I've heard two names, but not confident posting them here.

Neither are top-line guys.

Do you know if it's gonna be carried live by ESPN or SPEED TV?

Speedvision [/oldschool], I would think; they have the satellite clearance at that time.

 

[imjustagirl]

Oh, for the days when I had Speed as part of my cable package.

 

[This is my username]

AP story says the driver failed last week at RIR but isn't racing tonight. That leaves four names: John Andretti, Scott Speed, Jeremy Mayfield and Mike Bliss. That's just running down the two lineups with a pen and paper, though. Not speculation, of course, I was just was curious on that point.

Edit: Andretti at Indy qualifying; and apparently Speed is in for Nemecheck.

Or so says the facebook thread forming in the minutes before it all becomes moot.

 

[imjustagirl]

My facebook post was right!

http://www.thatsracin.com/140/story/8783.html

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Speed Channel really screwed the pooch just now.

NASCAR.com says two crewmen as well.<blockquote> Suspended along with Mayfield were Tony Martin, a crewman on the No. 34 Sprint Cup team of driver Tony Raines, and Ben Williams, a crew member with the No. 16 Nationwide Series team of Roush Fenway Racing, which won Friday night's event with driver Matt Kenseth.

Hunter would not specify what substances were taken, but did say the violations were for more than merely alcohol use. The violations were found as a result of testing last week at Richmond.</blockquote>http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/05/09/jmayfield.violates.drug.policy/index.html

 

[Inky_Wretch]

So by not telling the substance, they leave it open for guessing. That's stupid.

If they were smoking a joint at the RV, tell us. If it was PEDs, tell us.

 

[Beef03]

So by not telling the substance, they leave it open for guessing. That's stupid.

If they were smoking a joint at the RV, tell us. If it was PEDs, tell us.

It's obviously steroids. They're all bulking up for the big race now.[/bluefont]

 

[didntdoit19]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

Well obviously. But a driver, especially one that hasn't done much in a while?

 

[FreddiePatek]

I dunno about the rest of you, but it makes sense to me that it was Mayfield. The fella's just had a lot of trouble these past few years. Nice guy, but he has a ferocious bad side.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

Well obviously. But a driver, especially one that hasn't done much in a while?

PEDs don't necessarily mean steroids that make you look like Mark McGwire. After all, competitors in chess tournaments have been banned for testing positive for PEDs in the past.

 

[didntdoit19]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

Well obviously. But a driver, especially one that hasn't done much in a while?

PEDs don't necessarily mean steroids that make you look like Mark McGwire. After all, competitors in chess tournaments have been banned for testing positive for PEDs in the past.

I think there's probably a PED for every athlete.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

Well obviously. But a driver, especially one that hasn't done much in a while?

After all, competitors in chess tournaments have been banned for testing positive for PEDs in the past.

Seriously? You learn something new every day, I guess.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

In all seriousness, I can see why a crewman would use PEDs.

Well obviously. But a driver, especially one that hasn't done much in a while?

After all, competitors in chess tournaments have been banned for testing positive for PEDs in the past.

Seriously? You learn something new every day, I guess.

After posting that, I went looking for the link. I misremembered it. A grandmaster was booted from a competition for refusing to take the drug test, not because he tested positive.

Sorry.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Mayfield blames the failed test on Claritin D.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4154666

 

[DocTalk]

Mayfield blames the failed test on Claritin D.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4154666

Claritin-D is a combination of loaratidine, a non sedating anti-histmaine and pseudoephedrine, asn adrenalin related substance. The pseudophed is a defacto upper and I'm always amazed at the number of people I see in the ER who present with complications from its use. Palpitations, shortness of breath, insomnia, high blood pressure. Do people ever read teh package before consuming these drugs?

On a related note, performance enhancing drugs does not equate to steroids. For example, in shooting sports, beta blockers (medications like inderal, atenolol or lopressor) are banned because they block adrenalin receptors in the body and can minimize the shakes from the pressure of competition. They are wonderful for those who have palpitations and stage fright before giving lectures and presentations.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Solid work by Jenna Fryer.<blockquote>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—NASCAR proved how serious it is about its toughened new drug policy with a swift suspension of Jeremy Mayfield, the first driver to run afoul of the random testing program.

Now tell fans what Mayfield did.

NASCAR won’t reveal what banned drug Mayfield used, saying only that it wasn’t an alcohol-related offense. When pressed for more information, NASCAR officials would not budge.

“It’s not relevant to the public interest,” spokesman Ramsey Poston said. “What’s relevant is that this guy failed the test. It’s a zero tolerance test. That’s all that matters.”

Not really.

It is relevant to know if Mayfield was driving a car high on a recreational drug.

It is relevant to know what dangers the 42 other drivers were exposed to with Mayfield on the track.

It is relevant to Mayfield, who blames the positive test from Richmond International Speedway on the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine.

As long as NASCAR won’t say what he did, no explanation can ever be fully believed, especially as Dr. David Black, the CEO of Aegis Sciences Corp., which runs NASCAR’s testing program, dismissed Mayfield’s explanation.

So what exactly did Mayfield do?</blockquote>http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-inthepits&prov=ap&type=lgns

Mr. Poston: Thy logic is faulty. Rethink.