Track Smack: All-Star race becoming three-ring circus (cont'd)

3. Jeremy Mayfield received an indefinite suspension for violating NASCAR's new random drug testing policy, a sanction he can't appeal. Is the punishment too harsh?

David Caraviello: This is a tough one, given that we don't really know what Jeremy was caught using. If it was hard stuff, throw the book at him. If it's not ... well, I'd like to see the guy be given a little more leeway.

Raygan Swan: I don't think the punishment is too harsh for a NASCAR-described zero tolerance attitude. But the reality is that NASCAR agrees to help rehab the drivers or rid them of their "substance of concern," so he may be back.

Dave Rodman: To me, there are still way too many questions and not enough answers, which leads to plenty of barely-appropriate speculation. The basic punishment is not too harsh, but the program needs to be flexible and responsive enough to spring to life and put someone back in the sport in very short order if they were barely out of the program's parameters.

Perception battle

We know that Jeremy Mayfield failed a drug test and is suspended from NASCAR. But with so many unanswered questions and Mayfield proclaiming innocence, David Caraviello wants to wait before labeling Mayfield a drug user.

• Complete story
• Wide array in tests
• Mayfield suspended
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• NASCAR: Ensuring safety

Raygan Swan: I disagree completely. When the policy was announced, drivers were told to go to the NASCAR doctor to make sure what they were taking, and that cold medications, prescriptions, etc., would not cause a positive or put them in a false light.

David Caraviello: Dave, I think flexibility is the key here. NASCAR, as drug-testing coordinator Dr. David Black has told us, tests for a ton of different stuff. Some of that stuff is a lot more benign that others.

Raygan Swan: Why didn't Jeremy take care of this? Why didn't he take his prospection to NASCAR's doctor? I'm not saying Jeremy took or did something illicit or illegal, but he knew the policy and the risk. If I were a driver taking any meds, I would've asked questions on the first day.

David Caraviello: Well, I think then you run into the issue of NASCAR not having an official "list" of banned substances like so many other sports do. Maybe this will change that. Seriously, do all drivers know what they should or shouldn't be taking, when some over-the-counter meds can flag them for a violation?

Dave Rodman: Not having a list doesn't take away the responsibility of checking anything you might be taking -- discussing it at length with your personal physician -- because as NASCAR said, everyone was tested in the preseason and now, everyone has been tested randomly at least once, so you know it's inevitable. Let's just say that you failed a substance test. Do you think you'd be told what you failed for -- or that you just failed? Tell me if you think you should be told.

David Caraviello: You better damn well be told what you failed for, and what the amounts were, and how that relates to what's considered acceptable. This is all a fine line here. This stuff has to be done right.

Raygan Swan: Yes, I should be told what caused me to fail. Was Jeremy not told? I know we in the media weren't told. But Jeremy knows. I think on the subject of sports and drugs, the case is black and white. You can't live in the gray. You just don't screw around and put yourself in any circumstance that could cause a failed test.

David Caraviello: So if a driver with a head cold takes some DayQuil, he has to first call NASCAR and Dr. Black and say, "Is this all right?" That sounds kind of backward to me.

Raygan Swan: Yes, not that day, but he should know ahead of time what he can take. I'm pregnant, and there is a whole list of crap I can't take, and I know what it is. Drivers can do the same thing. It's not hard.

David Caraviello: Right, but Raygan, somebody gave you a list, right?

Raygan Swan: Yes, but drivers could get a list of cold meds from the doctor at the start of the season, just like the list I got from my doctor.

Dave Rodman: All I'm saying is he knows what he took, but he might not know exactly what flagged his result. You can't validate the accuracy of anything on the Internet, but there is an extensive list of over-the-counter meds that have a history of causing "false positives." Again -- too many questions, not enough answers. My biggest concern would be that a competitor -- whether crewman or driver -- was assessed with a positive test, that they could make one call and find out what they were flagged for. They could make one call to begin a "recovery" program. Personally, I have little confidence that's in place.

David Caraviello: I find it very, very difficult to believe that NASCAR would not tell Jeremy "this is the substance you tested positive for." What kind of communication would that be? How would that solve any problems? Boy, you would hope the sport learned from the Tim Richmond fiasco 20 years ago, when he got busted for Sudafed and Advil. I'm sure they have. Drug testing has come a long way since then.

Raygan Swan: Mixing scripts with over-the-counter stuff to me seems like a bonehead move, or maybe I just feel that way because I'm more aware of what is going into my body. We are an overmedicated society and are too quick to pop pills anyway.

Dave Rodman: Well, to Dr. Black's remarks that NASCAR's program tests "normal" substances to an extreme degree, and knowing that many allergy and cold medications have warnings on them about driving and operating machinery, it's probably fair to say NASCAR drivers are held to a higher standard. But as Dr. Black also said, Jeremy's case doesn't appear to be simple.

David Caraviello: I think I may need some Advil myself. This Smack session is giving me a headache!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writers.