NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France met with members of the media Friday at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway to give an update on the state of the sport and address some of the major issues facing NASCAR today. The obvious hot topic was the positive test results and subsequent indefinite suspension of Sprint Cup Series owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield.

With so much attention being placed on the drug testing process, the lack of a list of substances tested for and what Mayfield tested positive for, France took time to clear the air and help explain the situation a little further.

A number of drivers throughout the day expressed concerns over issues ranging from mixing over-the-counter drugs with prescription pills, to the need for a list of substances being tested for, and the reputation and innocence of those accused of testing positive.

In response to those concerns, France made it clear that drivers are invited to contact Dr. David Black, CEO of Aegis Sciences Corp., in order to ensure anything they may be taking will not violate the sanctioning body’s Substance Abuse Policy. The Chairman and CEO went on to point out that a number of crew members and drivers have taken the opportunity to meet with Dr. Black about prescription medications they are taking.

“Let me make this point,” France said with a sense of seriousness. “Many of our drivers, crew members and others, have prescription medications that they're taking.  That is not uncommon for them to talk to us about that, and certainly in communication with Dr. Black, to work that out, because what you need to know about our particular test, is it's very, very thorough.  It will pick up almost any substance that should not be in your body basically.”

France was sure to point out the difference in a serious violation of the Substance Abuse Policy and one involving either prescription or over-the-counter medicine, saying, “the point is that our drivers are encouraged to understand that if you should test positive for over-the-counter medications or, again, a prescribed medication that you're on with your doctor, even though it would be identified, that doesn't result in NASCAR suspending you, or you may not be in violation of the policy.  You will undoubtedly be talking to Dr. Black or one of his associates as to explain why you had a certain substance that was identified in a test.  That's happened a lot.  And it doesn't get you a suspension. 

“What we have said, and I'll say it now, last weekend we had a serious violation of our test, of our substance abuse policy, which gets you in our situation an automatic and indefinite suspension,” France added. “That is where we stand with Jeremy today.  We've been down this road with other infractions of our policy in the past.  We said it's serious.  The process going forward is a process.  It's not just NASCAR says or the laboratory says, ‘You tested positive.’  That would obviously be true.  But there's a process for the road back, a variety of other things.  There's clarification of the test for Jeremy's benefit.  That process is ongoing, that process is still going on now."

Many in the media and some in the garage have called on NASCAR and Dr. Black to identify the drug Mayfield tested positive for. While the owner/driver blamed the violation on a combination of over-the-counter medicine and prescription pills, Dr. Black clearly disagreed. That being said, NASCAR remains steadfast in refusing to release exactly what Mayfield’s test in Richmond showed.

“Our view of it is that there's nothing to be gained by disclosing exactly what the substance that tested positive in Jeremy's case or anyone else's case, other than to say it was not of the variety, as I said earlier, in a wide spectrum of things that you could test positive for in theory, and be resolved without a suspension,” France said. “Under our determination, something didn't impair your ability to drive the car at any one time.  And that is entirely possible.  Even then we would not disclose because there's no benefit to the competitors, there's no benefit to anyone to jeopardize someone else's privacy. 

“If we thought there was a benefit, we would probably rethink that.  But there is no benefit in our eyes to revealing the substance.  What's important to know is when it's serious…is that it's going to be a very, very tough penalty.  It's the toughest policy in sports.  And the reason for that is obvious:  the safety components of the sport, but also to have a deterrent.” 

Mayfield’s suspension has certainly been a deterrent and has caused many in the garage to worry about where they stand.

“I think all the drivers are concerned from multi-vitamins to prescriptions right now,” veteran Mark Martin explained. “Dr. Black has been very helpful with things, but it’s still – there’s still a little bit of gray area there.”

One of the most health-conscious drivers on the circuit, Martin’s concerns are not focused on recreation drugs or performance enhancing drugs,  but instead improperly – and quite possibly unintentionally – mixing prescription drugs with over-the-counter medicine.

“Everybody’s a little bit nervous about that right now,” the 50-year-old veteran went on to say. “Certainly, I don’t take anything that would be of any question from that standpoint – multi-vitamins and food supplements, protein shakes stuff like that.

“The small number of drivers I have talked to are on edge right now, based on what has happened with Jeremy and not knowing – we don’t know what the deal is with Jeremy’s test.”

“When we had the meeting in the beginning of the year,” Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth added, “Dr. Black gave every single driver and owner and everybody there his personal cell phone number and said if you have any questions about any medication, about any vitamin or supplement you can call me and we’ll talk about it and make sure that’s OK – or have your doctor call.  If I got to the point where I had the flu earlier in the year and there was some medicine I had to take and I had any question about it, I would probably call and ask him.  So I’m not worried about a list.  After we were in the meeting I was under the impression that he was gonna work with us as much as we could if there was any chance at all of it being legit, so I felt pretty comfortable with that when we got done with him.”

As France mentioned and Kenseth pointed out, drivers and crew members have been invited to consult Dr. Black about the medicines and supplements they are taking. However, when the violation is one of the serious magnitude, everything changes.

“[I]f you fall into the other category, as we said, a serious infraction, which a number of people have, in either one of the areas of performance-enhancing or recreational, at levels that Dr. Black believes violate the policy, that's the end of the road at that point,” France clarified. “They'll be notified and the process will then begin, as it has for Jeremy, other crew members, other drivers, as I described today.”

One thing that has come to light through France’s comments on Friday are that NASCAR does not feel Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for a combination of over-the-counter medicine and prescription pills. France mentioned many times throughout his statement that Jeremy’s failure was of a serious nature and grouped it in the category of recreation or performance enhancing drugs. There is also no question NASCAR does not plan on letting anyone know exactly what substance the owner/driver tested positive for, however indications are now pointing to one of two things – and not what Mayfield claims.

There is no doubt Mayfield’s positive test results have brought new concerns to the surface. With Mayfield claiming he violated the policy for one reason, Dr. Black disagreeing with Mayfield’s claim and NASCAR remaining tight-lipped, the drivers and crew members in the garage are the ones left in the dark.

MORE NASCAR CUP SERIES NEWS