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Sources say Mayfield tested positive for meth ; NASCAR
Tania Ganguli Tania Ganguli; The Orlando SentinelHerald (Rock Hill, SC)
Sources say Mayfield tested positive for meth ; NASCAR
Byline: Tania Ganguli Tania Ganguli; The Orlando Sentinel
Section: C
Type: News

Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines during a random drug test at Richmond International Raceway on May 1, ESPN.com reported Tuesday afternoon.

The story cited two independent sources providing the information Monday night.
Because of a gag order issued by a North Carolina judge on May 29, neither party is allowed to discuss the test results.

NASCAR suspended Mayfield from driving the No. 41 Mayfield Motorsports Toyota on May 9 for a violation of its substance-abuse policy. Mayfield's attorneys said in May that NASCAR's test results indicated he tested positive for amphetamines.

NASCAR has declined to reveal the drug, citing privacy issues, but NASCAR CEO Brian France termed the positive test result a "serious" violation caused by a performance enhancing or recreational drug.

Court documents indicate that Mayfield said he took two doses of Claritin-D, an over-the-counter allergy medication, as well as Adderall, a prescription amphetamine used to treat ADHD.

Mayfield's defense since his suspension has been that a mixture of the prescription and over-the-counter medication caused the false positive test.

Dr. David Black, CEO of AEGIS Corp., which administers NASCAR's policy, repeatedly has said that explanation is impossible.

Mayfield's lawsuit also claims the test itself might have been faulty and that he had the right to have a second sample tested by a separate testing facility.

After the first sample taken at Richmond returned positive on May 7, NASCAR says Mayfield asked that a second sample, taken on the same day, be tested. In his court filing, Mayfield says he did not ask that the second sample be tested.

Mayfield filed for a temporary restraining order in North Carolina Superior Court on May 29 in hopes of getting his suspension lifted until the completion of the case. Among the charges were defamation and breach of contract.

Judge Forrest Bridges declined to rule that Friday, saying granting the restraining order would not allow Mayfield to get back in the car for that weekend's race. A hearing was set for June 3.

On June 2, however, NASCAR moved the case to federal court, which delayed the hearing by two weeks. NASCAR then filed a countersuit in which it claimed Mayfield previously had raced under the influence of an illegal drug. The name of the drug was redacted out of public copies of the filing.

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