Jeremy Mayfield was once suspended from NASCAR following two failed tests – Yet, always claimed innocence
Was he right?
On May 9, 2009, Jeremy Mayfield was suspended from NASCAR for failing the substance abuse policy.
“I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test. My Doctor and I are working with both NASCAR consultant Dr. David Black and NASCAR to resolve this matter,” Mayfield stated of the incident.
Mayfield admitted that he took two tablets of Claritin-D and the prescription drug Adderall. The NASCAR test was positive for meth. Mayfield believed the combination of pills only appeared to be meth.
However, a Florida doctor stated that the levels of meth that Mayfield was tested positive for was not possible. The doctor stated that if the levels were truly that high, he would be dead. The doctor went on to explain that the combination of pills that Mayfield took would result in a 15% chance of a false positive.
On July 1, 2009, US District Court Judge Graham Mullen temporarily lifted the NASCAR suspension. Mullen ruled that the “harm to Mr. Mayfield significantly outweighs the harm to NASCAR”.
On July 15, 2009, Mayfield failed a second NASCAR drug test. However, Mayfield stated that he took another test 40 minutes later at a certified drug-testing laboratory, it came up negative.
July 24, 2009, the appeals court reverse the lift on the suspension. On May 18, 2010, a judge threw out Mayfield’s defamation of character lawsuit against NASCAR.
“Brian France out there talking about effective drug policy, it’s kind of like Al Capone talking about effective law enforcement,” Mayfield was quoted in 2009 after being suspended by NASCAR. “That’s the way I feel about it. The pot shouldn’t be calling the kettle black, you know what I’m saying? And I think the world needs to hear that, too.”
At any point, Mayfield was welcome to joined NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program. Spencer Gallagher is the most recent graduate of that program. Gallagher’s suspension lasted just over a month. However, Mayfield always refused to enlist in the program. Why? Because that would be admitting guilt. Mayfield always claimed he did nothing wrong.
Mayfield comments on Brian France
The tables have been rotated…
On Sunday, August 5th, 2018 Brian France blew through a stop sign in Southampton, New York. He was pulled over in his 2017 Lexus while heading northbound on main street. Upon the traffic stop, Mr. France was found to be intoxicated by the officer.
Police searched the now former NASCAR CEO during the arrested. Sag Harbor Village Justice Court documents show that Brian France had 5 pills on him as police pulled him over and ran a search.
Mr. France’s blood alcohol content was also tested at 1.8. That’s twice the legal limit in the state of New York.
“This goes way back, and it’s still true today, that I would never say something on the radio or TV or in an article or anything I’ve done for the media… I would never say it unless I was 100 percent sure that it’s the truth,” Mayfield told Frontstretch after France’s arrest. “I wasn’t going to say anything that… people would come back and say, ‘Oh, you lied about that or lied about this.’ I wouldn’t do that.”
“I was telling the truth. I was telling the media exactly what [was going on] without throwing anybody under the bus.”
Throughout this entire time, Mayfield still claimed innocence. Along the way, he was still looking for a way back into NASCAR without admitting guilt. He took NASCAR to court. He also made a somewhat awkward phone call to Brian France looking for ways to be re-ininstated.
“My wife [Shana Mayfield] and I have been through a lot over the last nine or 10 years, and throughout all this, we’ve been beat down… We feel like we’ve been on an island by ourselves,” Mayfield said. “When you feel like the whole world’s against you sometimes, there ain’t but one place to turn and one thing that can make a difference, and that’s God.”
As the news spread of the arrest of Brian France, Mayfield remained mostky quiet. It would have been easy for him to jump on the topic.
“That was all Brian’s deal that happened the other day… that was all on him, but yet, everybody was able to look back at the comments I’ve made and then connect the dots between us,” Mayfield said. “The only thing I could hope was somebody would believe me one day.”
Don’t forget that the doctor claimed the amount of meth that Mayfield tested positive for would have killed him. Yet, Mayfield was very much alive. Until the failed test, he was driving race cars. In 2009, he was driving for his own team. He was five races into the starter operation when he failed the test.
“That’s something you can always look back on is you can look at my whole career and you could talk to anyone in the garage area that was around me every single day,” he said. “All my team members, all the other drivers, everybody; not one person could ever say I was driving a race car or even in the garage area or been around me where I’ve been impaired on anything, alcohol, drugs, anything. And that’s something that I’m proud to say.
“Brian France painted that picture of me. Not really NASCAR, just him.”
For everyone wondering how @J2Mayfield and @shanamayfield feel about today’s news.
This from Shana. pic.twitter.com/0YFvJr0Woi
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) August 7, 2018
Following the arrest, Brian France was stepped down as NASCAR CEO. In his place, Jim France has temporarily filled the position.
“I think it just became personal between [France] and I,” Mayfield said. “That’s all it was, but yet the France family still owns NASCAR. And I don’t see that Brian can just get fired, and he’s gonna go away and everything will be lovely. I just don’t see that happening… I just don’t think he’s going to give his spot up that easy.”
This wasn’t the first time for Brian France. Back on November 6, 2006, Brian France was spotted driving erratically. A woman followed him back to his Daytona Beach condo and saw France crash into a tree alongside his driveway.
The police never investigated him for drunk driving. They stated they were there in investigate a crash. The moral of that story is, it went away.
You can learn more about that 2006 incident here.
“I never saw it coming with him [France] holding a DUI or drug charges because usually he would get himself out of them before anybody heard about them,” Mayfield said. “He’s got enough money to make anything happen.”
Mayfield has long moved on from his NASCAR career. These days, he can be found behind the wheel of a dirt late model for Safety Plus Racing. Recently, he’s been entered at Southern tracks like Toccoa Raceway and the Tri-County Race Track
“Now I’m trying to go and win some big races on dirt before my career comes to an end,” Mayfield said. “I’d like to [race in the Knoxville Nationals]. I don’t know when it’d be, but I’m certainly working on it. I would love to do that. We got some things working that could come about that would allow us to do that.”
More
Related: Brian France failed inspection
Related: NASCAR CEO arrested for DUI
Related: Brian France addresses the rumors on a sale of NASCAR
Related: Brian France comments on the idea of a NASCAR dirt race; Praises his uncle Jim France
Related: Spencer Gallagher suspended following a NASCAR issued drug test
Related: Brent Dewar promoted to NASCAR president
Related: Brad Keselowski wants to see more of Brian France at the race track
Links
Jeremy Mayfield | Safety Plus Racing | NASCAR
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