NASCAR: Witnesses Will Testify Against Mayfield

((HT: That's Racin'/St. Onge))

NASCAR has a “significant number” of witnesses who will testify that suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield ((PIctured, thanks NASCAR Images)) used methamphetamines, a NASCAR official said Monday.

The official said those witnesses would testify to recent and long-term use.

The official's remarks followed a court filing Monday by NASCAR attorneys in U.S. District Court. The filing asked U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen to lift an injunction he granted this month so Mayfield could return to racing.

Mayfield was suspended May 9 after a positive test for what NASCAR later identified as meth.

An appeals court last week put on hold Mullen's injunction, but Monday's filing is part of a larger lawsuit between NASCAR and Mayfield.

The NASCAR official declined to further characterize the witnesses to Mayfield's meth use, but in Monday's court filing, NASCAR attorneys said they were reluctant to testify after Mayfield angrily responded to similar testimony from his stepmother, Lisa Mayfield.

Jeremy Mayfield said Lisa Mayfield is “basically a whore” and accused her of killing his father, who died in 2007.

Attorneys say Mayfield apparently contacted one of the unnamed witnesses to convince her that despite her recollection, he never used drugs.

Mayfield continues to deny any methamphetamine use, his attorney John Buric said.

In the filing, NASCAR also asked Mullen to select an independent, third-party laboratory that could test a sample of Mayfield's urine.

Mayfield's attorneys have argued that he has tested negative for meth using the same sample that produced a positive NASCAR test, and that the positive NASCAR test might have come from a combination of allergy and other medication Mayfield was taking.

NASCAR attorneys have argued that Mayfield's lab did not use a test sophisticated enough to distinguish meth from those other medications.

Buric called NASCAR's request for a third-party lab “ridiculous.”

“There's clearly a process in place for this,” he said. “We think the rules require that we have the say in where our sample gets sent.”

NASCAR: Mayfield Lied To Federal Court

((HT: That's Racin'/Jenna Fryer))

NASCAR accused Jeremy Mayfield of lying to a federal court about the chronology of a second random drug test, offering to provide an audio tape of the conversation in which Mayfield was told to submit a sample. The driver says the telephone call went to voicemail.

The accusation came Monday in court filings that ask U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen to lift the July 1 injunction he granted Mayfield so he could return to racing.

NASCAR disputed the sworn testimony Mayfield provided to U.S. District Court last week, including the assertion that a July 6 request for a second drug test went to his voicemail at 1:18 p.m. He said he didn't get the message until about 40 minutes later, making it difficult for him to meet the two-hour deadline to report for testing.

NASCAR provided a transcript of the actual conversation between Mayfield and Regina Sweeney, an employee of Aegis Sciences Corp., which runs NASCAR's drug-testing program. NASCAR said it would provide the recording upon request.

"I'm calling on behalf of NASCAR who has requested that you take a drug test today within the next two hours ... and I was going to help find you a location that you could go to based upon where you are right now," Sweeney said in the transcript.

"Right, well I'm gonna have to—let me talk to my attorney first. ... So, and I'll get back with you," Mayfield is quoted as replying.

According to Mayfield's affidavit from last week, he was in a meeting and did not receive the message until 2 p.m. and it was 2:44 p.m. when he was finally told what laboratory to go to—making it impossible for him to meet the testing deadline.

"Mayfield appears to have completely "forgotten" that he had a live conversation with Ms. Sweeney ... in which she advised him he could go to a testing place ... the address of which Mayfield did not take down because he wanted to talk to his attorney first," the filing said.

NASCAR also accused Mayfield of lying when he told the court he was instructed to return to his home at 5 p.m., where he waited almost three hours for NASCAR representatives to collect a sample.

"This account is contradicted by Mayfield's counsel, who claimed that at 5:32 p.m., Mayfield was still driving around Concord, looking for the testing location," the filing said. NASCAR submitted e-mail exchanges between Mayfield attorney John Buric and its counsel to contradict Mayfield's claims.

Buric did not immediately return a request for comment.

Mayfield was suspended May 9 for failing a random drug test taken eight days earlier for what NASCAR has said was a positive test for methamphetamines. The driver sued, and Mullen lifted the suspension based on the argument that NASCAR's testing system is flawed.

NASCAR has asked Mullen to reverse the injunction based on new evidence—the failed July 6 test, and sworn testimony from Mayfield's estranged stepmother that she witnessed him using meth at least 30 times over the years.

An appeals court last week issued a ruling that put Mayfield back under suspension, but the request to reverse the injunction is one of the unresolved legal challenges before Mullen.

NASCAR's filing Monday also contends that in addition to the eyewitness account from Lisa Mayfield, it has several other witnesses willing to testify about Mayfield's methamphetamine use if subpoenaed.

"Mayfield has apparently contacted at least one witness to convince the witness that despite her recollection, he never used drugs," the filing said.

Court Sides With NASCAR Over Mayfield For Now

((HT: CBSSports))

Jeremy Mayfield is back under suspension for a failed random drug test after an appeals court ruled in NASCAR's favor Friday, issuing a stay on the injunction that gave the driver the right to return to the race track.

The one-page decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stands until NASCAR's full appeal can be heard.

NASCAR had appealed to the Richmond, Va., court after a federal judge on July 1 lifted Mayfield's suspension based on the argument that the drug testing system was flawed.

U.S. District Court Graham Mullen still has NASCAR's request before him to overturn his earlier decision based on its claim that Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamine a second time on July 6.

Mayfield was suspended May 9 for failing a random test done eight days earlier, and NASCAR has said he tested positive for methamphetamine. Mayfield has denied ever using the illegal drug.

He is not entered in Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has indicated he has no intention of returning to racing as he fights NASCAR. The last remaining employee at Mayfield Motorsports resigned last week, and Mayfield has not entered any events since Mullen's ruling.

"We are pleased with the 4th Circuit Court's ruling to reinstate NASCAR's suspension of Jeremy Mayfield," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said in a statement. "This is an important decision for NASCAR to make fair and equitable regulations for the safety of competitors and spectators at the track. We will continue to respectfully make our case for as long as the litigation continues."

Papers Filed In Mayfield Suit Claim Independent Test Negative- AGAIN!

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An independent drug test on Jeremy Mayfield was negative for methamphetamines, contradicting the results of a NASCAR test taken 40 minutes earlier, the driver claimed in court documents filed Tuesday ((the 41 car is pictured, again, thanks NASCAR Images)).

In response to NASCAR's claim that Mayfield again tested positive for methamphetamines on July 6, Mayfield submitted an affidavit to the U.S. District Court that said he traveled to Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, N.C., right after NASCAR collected a sample at his Catawba County home.

In a room he described as "very sterile," Mayfield said he emptied his pockets, washed his hands and was ushered into a bathroom, where he provided another urine sample.

Mayfield said in the court filing he received confirmation from Laboratory Corporation of America in Raleigh, N.C., that his sample was negative on July 10 -- the same day NASCAR informed his counsel that its sample was positive.

He said the results of his test are "consistent with my lifestyle as I have not and do not use or abuse methamphetamines.

"It is impossible for methamphetamine to be in my body as I have never consumed that substance."

Dr. Harold Schueler of the Broward County (Fla.) Medical Examiner's Office, filed an affidavit on behalf of Mayfield that claimed the levels of methamphetamine in NASCAR's test are "astronomical" and "could be remotely accurate, unless Mr. Mayfield was deceased or a chronic abuser."

The filing also denied accusations made last week by his estranged former stepmother, who said in her own affidavit she witnessed Mayfield use methamphetamines at least 30 times and that the driver cooked it himself until the ingredients became too hard to obtain. She also said she witnessed him use the drug at Darlington Raceway in 1999.

"I deny Lisa Mayfield's allegation that I used, cooked or purchased methamphetamines," Mayfield wrote. "Lisa Mayfield's assertion that I used methamphetamine just prior to the 1999 Darlington race is a lie. I finished second in the 1999 Darlington race."

There were two races at Darlington in 1999, and Mayfield finished second and third. Lisa Mayfield's affidavit, submitted last week by NASCAR, did not specify before which race she witnessed him using drugs.

Mayfield was suspended May 9 for failing a random drug test taken eight days earlier for what NASCAR has said was a positive test for methamphetamines. The driver sued, and a federal judge issued an injunction July 1 that lifted his suspension based on the argument that NASCAR's testing system is flawed.

NASCAR asked U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen last week to reverse the injunction based on new evidence -- the failed July 6 test and Lisa Mayfield's sworn testimony.

Mayfield's attorneys on Tuesday argued in their response that the July 6 test results -- positive or negative -- should not be taken into consideration because the case is about a failed May 1 test.

"This Court's preliminary injunction lifted a suspension for a drug test performed on May 1, 2009, the questionable circumstances surrounding which necessarily remain unchanged," they wrote.

Mayfield also disputed NASCAR's chronology of the July 6 testing sequence, in which the sanctioning body claims he delayed giving a sample for more than seven hours.

Although Mayfield attorney John Buric has said Mayfield submitted to an independent test during that seven-hour span, the only test results mentioned in Tuesday's filing are of the 9 p.m. trip to Frye Medical Center.

Buric did not immediately respond to a call and an e-mail from the Associated Press.

Mayfield said in his affidavit that he was at a lab waiting to be tested around 5 p.m. when NASCAR ordered him home to meet their collectors. His affidavit makes no mention of him actually giving a sample -- which Buric has said the driver was doing during the time NASCAR could not locate him for its own test.

Mayfield Asks Judge To Uphold Injunction- AGAIN! NOT A REPRINT...

((HT: AJC-Jenna Fryer))

In a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., Mayfield's lawyers contended Judge Graham Mullen properly ruled when he granted a July 1 injunction. The filing is a response to NASCAR's request that Mullen's order be put on hold as the decision is appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

"Defendants are incorrect on each and every point they raise," the motion said of NASCAR's reasoning for the suspension being reinstated.

"In what has become an all-too-common pattern in this case, Defendants once again make bold, incendiary statements in pursuit of their goals, only to have their arguments fall flat when the underlying facts are closely scrutinized."

Mayfield ((pictured, thanks NASCAR Images)) was suspended May 9 for failing a drug test conducted eight days earlier. NASCAR has said he tested positive for methamphetamines, and Mayfield has denied ever using the illegal drug.

NASCAR in a July 6 motion disputed Mullen's conclusion that the chance of a false positive on Mayfield's drug test was "quite substantial," and contended that Mullen relied on facts "outside the record, including the purported existence of reliable hair sample tests and same-day tests for methamphetamine."

NASCAR said Mullen failed to properly consider the reliability of assessments by Mayfield employees that the driver did not ingest methamphetamine; the sophistication and sensitivity of NASCAR-commissioned Aegis Laboratories drug-testing procedures that prevent false positives; and an affidavit from a Mayfield expert that found the level of methamphetamine in Mayfield's sample would make him a chronic user.

Mayfield's attorneys argued in Monday's filing that Mayfield's initial positive test was caused by the combined use of Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Claritin-D for allergies.

Mayfield's lawyers did not formally responded to NASCAR's request last week that Mullen reverse his ruling based on a second failed drug test. Their response was instead directed at a motion filed before NASCAR was aware of the results from its July 6 test.

Mayfield has not entered the two races held since the injunction, and he's indicated he won't make a return to the track and will instead focus on his fight with NASCAR.

Here's a re-posting of Mayfield's one-on-one with MyFoxCharlotte's Dao Vu

NASCAR Asks For Mayfield Suspension Reinstatement

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NASCAR asked a federal judge Monday to reverse the ruling that lifted driver Jeremy Mayfield's ((his car is pictured, thanks NASCAR Images)) indefinite suspension for failing a random drug test.

The motion filed in U.S. District Court asked Judge Graham Mullen to reverse the injunction he issued last Wednesday that cleared Mayfield to return to competition. NASCAR also filed notice of its intent to appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

Mayfield was suspended May 9 for a failed drug test, and NASCAR has identified the substance as methamphetamine.

Despite his reinstatement, Mayfield did not attempt to qualify for Saturday night's event at Daytona International Speedway, and he is not on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's race at Chicago.

NASCAR in its filing disputed Mullen's conclusion that the chance of a false positive on Mayfield's drug test was "quite substantial."

NASCAR said Mullen failed to properly consider the reliability of assessments by Mayfield employees that the driver did not ingest methamphetamine; the sophistication and sensitivity of NASCAR-commissioned Aegis Laboratories drug-testing procedures that prevent false positives; and an affidavit from a Mayfield expert that found the level of methamphetamine in Mayfield's sample would make him a chronic user.

Mayfield attorney Bill Diehl argued to Mullen that Mayfield shows none of the physical characteristics of a chronic meth user, and if he tested positive at the levels NASCAR claimed, Mayfield would be "either a walking zombie or he's dead."

NASCAR also questioned in its filing Mullen's belief that Mayfield can be tested daily, including hair samples, to see if he is a safety risk.

"The Court improperly decided without the benefit of any evidence in the record that a reliable and accurate same-day test for methamphetamine exists which can ensure Mayfield's drug-free participation in upcoming NASCAR events," court documents state, adding there is no evidence a hair test for methamphetamine exists.

"Mayfield continues to pose a threat to public safety, thereby warranting NASCAR's immediate appeal of this Court's decision."