DOVER, Del. -- NASCAR on Saturday morning at Dover International Speedway announced an updated drug policy, which will include random testing beginning in 2009.

NASCAR held a mandatory drivers' meeting for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competitors on hand for Saturday and Sunday's events at Dover, including some team owners and crew members.

A similar meeting was also held Saturday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's Craftsman Truck Series event.

"The way it came about is, we had a number of discussions with the other professional sports leagues [and] a lot of industry experts -- a number of those are in the garage, actually," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of racing operations. "I think the bottom line with the policy is we get asked a lot of questions as to why we did this, why now. I think we have talked to a lot of industry experts. We think it's always incumbent upon all of us at NASCAR to think safety first -- that's the safety of our competitors and the fans. That's why we've got this policy in place moving forward in 2009."

NASCAR will continue to work with its outside experts at AEGIS Sciences Corporation and its founder, Dr. David L. Black. AEGIS helped design and implement NASCAR's substance-abuse policy.

"We've had a relationship with Dr. Black for the last 20 years," O'Donnell said. "AEGIS right now is the largest sports and forensic testing laboratory in the United States, so we feel like we've always been with the right group and we're going to continue that relationship moving forward."

AEGIS personnel will administer all preseason and random substance-abuse tests, and O'Donnell said a computer-generated list would be used at "most if not all" weekends to test "from 12 to 14 people." O'Donnell said in a typical weekend, an average of two drivers per series would be tested with the balance coming from the ranks of over-the-wall crewmen and officials.

Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president of corporate communications, said the tests would not impact the conduct of a race weekend, with the results available in "from three days to a week, as they are now."

The selection would be so random that O'Donnell said a driver could be tested every week in the season, or never after the preseason test is given. And he deflected any concern about bias.

"I think you could say that if we were the ones administering the test, but we're not -- this is done by an outside agency," O'Donnell said. "They do this every day for NCAA tournament teams. And Jim brought up a good point [in that AEGIS doesn't know who they're testing].

"The way that AEGIS will do the computer program is really by a number. So it will be random generation. They'll see a number that will come up [and] we'll associate that number with a particular driver. So the people who are involved in our testing do this every day and really aren't as familiar with who is who. It will just be a number to them of who's coming in to administer a test to."

The amended policy mandates that all drivers in NASCAR's three national series, Cup, Nationwide and Truck, be tested prior to the start of the 2009 season. Team owners must also verify that all licensed crew members have been tested by a lab certified by the U.S. government agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, prior to the start of the season.

O'Donnell said that "baseline test" would be done by AEGIS personnel during preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway, and all drivers present would be required to submit samples. He said anyone who failed to show up for a scheduled test would be considered as having failed the test.

While some high-profile drug-related cases involving NASCAR athletes have occurred recently, no mention of either case was made in NASCAR's announcement.

Last weekend at New Hampshire, NASCAR held a news conference to absolve defending Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday of physician-prescribed steroid use to mitigate a thyroid condition. Last year, Truck Series driver Aaron Fike was indefinitely suspended for using heroin.

• Hornaday used testosterone
• NASCAR won punish Hornaday
• Menzer: Hornaday not abusing

In addition, NASCAR will test its officials prior to the start of the 2009 season. Drivers, over-the-wall crew members and NASCAR officials thereafter will be subject to random tests throughout the year, while the original program of testing on the basis of "reasonable suspicion" would also remain in place.

O'Donnell also spelled out who would pay for the program.

"I don't want to get into the overall costs, but NASCAR will be responsible for all of the tests, the preseason baseline tests for the competitors and officials and then all of the random tests throughout the year," O'Donnell said. "The car owners will be responsible for the cost of their licensed crew member tests prior to the start of the season."

O'Donnell said driver reaction in the meeting was generally positive.

"I think for the most part, and no secret, you've read a lot of the comments prior coming to Dover, that we believe we've got a very clean sport and we also think that the competitors are very supportive of the new policy," O'Donnell said. "As with any new program, there will be questions about how it will work, what will you be testing for. What we did [Saturday] was just lay out the basics of the program and let them know that we'll have people on-site to discuss where we're going with the program and then kind of lay out a full booklet for them to go over the policy moving forward. I think overall [the reaction was] very positive."

Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan said, assuming the schedule worked around a busy weekend schedule -- which O'Donnell said it would -- that he had no problem with the updated procedure.

"I think we do have a very clean sport," said Ragan, who competes in both the Cup and Nationwide Series in No. 6 Fords. "They could test us before every race if they want to. Also, we don't want to spend a bunch of time every race having to go to locations --- we're busy enough with on-track activities, and the things that we do with our sponsors and fans.

"But yeah, it's no concern. Lay the paper out in front of me and I'll sign whatever you got, and we'll keep on racing. Whatever they want to do is perfectly fine with me; no questions on my behalf."

Two more "middle-aged" drivers from Penske Racing, Sam Hornish Jr., 29, who's familiar with drug testing from his time in the IndyCar Series, and teammate Ryan Newman, 30, offered thoughtful perspectives with Newman, in particular, appreciating the educational aspect.

"You know, the IRL did a full physical before the season started, I know that they took blood, they took urine -- all that stuff," Hornish said. "I don't know what they even did with it [but] you knew that they were definitely checking and then they started actually doing random tests. I think I was probably one of the first people randomly tested.

"It's always nice to know that the series that you're in is taking [drug abuse] seriously because there's different drugs, prescription and non-prescription that definitely can have an affect on not only your mood and the way you act outside the car but also inside the car."

"I think that it's a great step [and] it's good that NASCAR is starting [the revised policy] in 2009," Newman said. "It will give us time to figure out what the guidelines are for us to follow. How much cough medicine will make you positive [in a drug test]? Does a Z-Pak have an effect on you? Those things we'll have to learn and the communication between your physician and AEGIS will be important to make sure we're doing the right things and handling it the right way."

Newman, for one, didn't have a problem with the lack of a list of questionable or banned substances.

"I think NASCAR will continue to develop that as time goes on," Newman said. "There are obviously banned substances and there are substances that are legal that can make you illegal. You just have to make sure you don't put yourself in jeopardy in NASCAR's perspective."

Veteran Bobby Labonte, 44, said there was no question the policy was the right move.

"The new drug policy is another step in the evolution of NASCAR and the safety of the sport," Labonte said. "Make no mistake, what we do is dangerous. We need to make certain that the competitors are clean when they hit the racetrack. NASCAR did a great job in outlining the rules, what is legal and illegal, and it's up to the drivers and their doctors to make sure they are within the guidelines."

Ragan, 22, said that in the last four years, he'd only been drug tested once and that he had no problem with NASCAR's lottery system.

"It'll only cause problems for people that have something to worry about, not for everybody that's clean," Ragan said. "We have to respect NASCAR stepping up to the plate and making a little tougher policy. I think it'll be great for everybody to get some type of a schedule and we get drug tested more frequently."

Newman said public credibility was one of the best aspects of the updated program.

"I think that there is a sense of credibility, for sure, to be drug-free -- not just for the drivers, but for the crew members and owners and everybody involved," Newman said. "They want everybody in the garage area to be drug-free. That's NASCAR's goal and that's the way it should be."

Some drivers had expressed the desire to have a random testing policy instituted, particularly after Fike revealed he had used heroin on race days.

"We have made a very good policy even better with the addition of random tests," NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said. "NASCAR's policy has long given us the ability to test anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Random tests now provide us and the industry with additional information."

"NASCAR's substance-abuse policy has always prohibited the misuse or abuse of any drug," its statement said. "This means that a violation of the policy can be triggered with the use of any drug or medication if NASCAR believes it has been abused or misused.

"Penalties for violation of NASCAR's substance-abuse policy will continue to be among the toughest in sports: Immediate suspension from competition. Competitors that violate the policy will continue to be required to meet detailed criteria prescribed by NASCAR's outside experts in order to be considered for reinstatement."

NASCAR's announcement didn't include a list of banned substances, or even substances that would be tested for. O'Donnell said the sanctioning body did not want to continually revise the policy.

"We think we have the broadest policy in all of sports. The reason we don't have a list is we believe that a list is restrictive," O'Donnell said. "If you've seen with a lot of other leagues, the policy is constantly changing. We know that there's new drugs out there every day. By having a broad policy that doesn't list anything, we feel like we can test for any substance that may be abused, no different than our policy is today.

"I want to be clear on that. We've never had a list. It states right now in our policy that cough medicine could be abused if you're taking that too much and it's going to affect the safety on the racetrack. That won't change. We'll test for anything. Our experts are very familiar with prescriptions people may be taking and legitimate medications, but we will not have a list."

NASCAR's announcement reiterated the policy that, "while it is possible that a competitor could receive a lifetime ban for just one violation, a third violation will automatically result in a lifetime ban."

Although he refused to go into details about the comparative number of tests it had conducted in the past versus what it anticipated in the future, O'Donnell said the reporting of test results wouldn't change.

"We don't notify anybody as to who's tested or if there's a negative test," O'Donnell said. "The only time you'll hear us talk about a test is when we have a positive result that's been verified, so that will be no different than our policy is today.

"The way our policy works today and will continue is that when a sample is taken, there's an A and a B sample. Before we go public, we will verify that not only the A but the B sample was positive. Once we're assured by our medical review officer this is indeed a positive test, we will make that public."

O'Donnell stressed that to some degree, the policy would continue to be a work in progress, as in the expansion of the process to test for steroids.

"The way we'll rely on it is if it's medically prescribed and we don't think it affects the safety on the track that is something we would look at," O'Donnell said. "So I think we do test for steroids. That is new to our test. That will be for over-the-wall crew members as well. But we'll rely on Dr. Black and AEGIS on that."

Establishing the baseline in 2009 is part of the adjustment to different persons' medical programs and what the next year of the program will prove.

"What I think gets lost a little bit is even without this new policy right now, the drivers are required to let us know what they're taking," O'Donnell said. "That's kind of the first part. Then the baseline test, really with any new or amended substance-abuse policy, it's the right thing to do.

"It's basically taking a sampling of where you believe you're at today, taking a look at it, then implementing your random test. It's not something we have to do every year in terms of a baseline, but we'll start out, see where we're at, then through the random testing process see if we need to institute that part again in 2010."