Carl Edwards and fellow drivers weigh in on the Jeremy Mayfield drug debate...and they don't all agree

   
Carl Edwards (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   
   

    By Mike Mulhern
    mikemulhern.net

    CONCORD
    The Jeremy Mayfield controversy, triggered last weekend by NASCAR's indefinite suspension of the five-time tour winner for 'violating' NASCAR's somewhat mysterious substance abuse policy, hung like a huge black cloud over the Lowe's Motor Speedway garage Friday, between practice runs and qualifying for Saturday night's annual All-star race and Sprint Showdown prelim.
   Carl Edwards is one of several drivers now asking NASCAR for a full list of banned medications: "I think definitely there needs to be, and I think there will be. 
    "NASCAR is doing their best, and we all agree -- every competitor in here, and everybody in that NASCAR trailer -- we want this to be a clean sport. And we all want to know and feel comfortable with that.
   "The way it was explained to all of us is that if we take anything, you're supposed to ask NASCAR 'Is this okay?'  That gets really tough to do in everyday life.
   "So I believe what you're going to see is the NASCAR testing policy evolve. They're going to figure out how to make it better, so that everyone understands it more completely…because -- myself included -- there are a lot of people that don't really understand exactly what's going on and how all the procedures work.
   "I don't envy NASCAR's position trying to implement something new and wide-sweeping like this, which has such a huge impact on people if there's a mistake.  That's what's dangerous about this."

     While many drivers are calling on NASCAR to provide them with a list of specifically banned drugs, Kenseth says "I'm not uncomfortable not having a list.  I'm not uncomfortable with that, in the least. 
    "When we had the meeting in the beginning of the year, Dr. Black (NASCAR's drug czar) gave every single driver and owner 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 okay.'
   "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 the meeting I was under the impression he was going to work with us as much as he 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.
    "I've never called him…. unless my multivitamins are on the list, I'm good."

    Greg Biffle says the phone thing doesn't always work that well: "Being able to get a prescription drug and then get it approved and move on --  with whether you're able to take it or not -- are key. Sometimes it doesn't happen as quick as we'd like it to. 
    "I had a small injury before Bristol and was prescribed a prescription that was probably questionable -- on my part. And then tried to get in touch to make sure that it was okay to take…and never really got an answer quick enough.
   "So I just elected not to take it and stick with ibuprofen or something. And I guess that was probably the right thing to do.
   "Considering there's no list, anything you take is questionable, even over-the-counter stuff. 
    "Anything other than aspirin or ibuprofen, or things like that, have to be questioned -- whether you really need to be taking them or not. 
    "I don't like taking stuff to start with, but some people have medical conditions which require them to take other stuff. But I just say 'tough it out.'"   

   Jeff Gordon termed it all "a learning process, and there are going to be things come up that are going to be a question for us."
   The big worry, Gordon said, "is really about what can create a 'false positive.'
    "It's our job to work with our doctors, as well as work with Dr. Black and some of the liaisons, to make sure they know -- Like I have bad allergies, so I take Allegra every day.
   "It's important for us to share all of that information with them, and let them know what you're doing, so they are aware of what might show up in a test.
   "What they're doing is setting a new standard, and there's going to be some time to learn how it works.
    "But to me it's pretty clear.
      "It's just whether or not you make the mistake or not that is on that line.
     "I feel confident what I'm doing; I feel confident what they're doing.
     "Every time I've told them 'this is what I'm taking, this is everything in my system,' they're like 'You're fine.'
   "Now I haven't been randomly tested yet either…so I might be the random and they might find something different. We'll see."

   Jeff Burton, who says he has been drug-tested this year at least three times, maybe four, wants NASCAR to have wiggle room: "This process allows a reasonable argument to be heard, versus 'it's on the list, you're out.'
    "On the surface of it, I'm a big supporter of the list. But when you really start digging into it, and look at what's happened to a lot of Olympic athletes -- having to go to court and prove they were doing something, and still losing, then the list become a little more cloudy.
    "I want flexibility; I want the opportunity to be able to explain what happened, to state my case, and have someone with reasonable mind able to say 'You know what, that makes sense. And we did not suspend him.'
   "Now on the topic of releasing information, if I test positive for a 'mistake,' it's in my best interest for the fans, the media, the sport to know  what I tested positive for was a legitimate mistake, if I were suspended.
    "If I were suspended for marijuana, let's say, that should be released.
    "There is not a 'list,' but I have Dr. Black's cell phone number. If I take a supplement, I call Dr. Black.
    "I am very proactive.
     "Because there is no list, and because there is flexibility, it is a requirement for the driver and crew member to be very proactive and ask him questions. You can't worry about being a pain in his butt; that's his job. And if I call him 50 times, I don't care.
    "It's my life, it's my profession -- and the responsibility rests on my shoulders to make sure anything I'm doing I'm okay with."

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. says it all much more succinctly: "Just don't take drugs.
   "Don't do anything stupid and you won't get caught.
    "Nobody deserves anything -- no lists, nothing. Don't do drugs, don't do stupid stuff.
    "Let's not point any fingers at Jeremy. The truth will be known by the people who need to know it.
    "We don't need to know it. It's none of our business.
    "That's the problem with everybody – they've got to know everything.
     "Everybody wants to know what the hell Jeremy did.
     "That's his business and NASCAR's business, and they'll handle it."