NASCAR files countersuit against driver Mayfield (cont'd)

Poston declined to say which races Mayfield competed in while allegedly under the influence of illegal drugs, but Mayfiled qualified for and competed in a total of five races before NASCAR handed down his "indefinite suspension." His best finish was 18th at the season-opening Daytona 500, for which his team, which he owns himself, earned $265,238.

Jeremy Mayfield

2009 Results

Site	St.	Fin.	Earnings
Daytona	18	40	$265,238
Fontana	39	34	$83,700
Martinsville	42	38	$69,900
Talladega	27	32	$82,075
Richmond	38	35	$67,975
Totals	32.8	35.8	$568,888

Mayfield also made the races at Fontana, Martinsville, Talladega and Richmond. His total winnings for the season amount to $568,888.

"The lawsuit is a matter of public record," Poston said. "You will see in there that he competed in a number of races that had we known that he had been on the medication that he was on, and certainly if we had known there was an illegal substance involved, we would not have allowed him to compete. So in effect, he took money away from other potential competitors who could have gained those earnings."

According to the 40-year-old Mayfield in his complaint, he was taking Adderrall-XR for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and on April 30, two days before taking his initial drug test, he also took two Claritin-D doses to combat allergies. Black allegedly questioned the legitimacy of someone Mayfield's age needing to take Adderrall and has repeatedly rejected Mayfield's claim that a combination of a prescription drug and over-the-counter medicine could have triggered a positive test, let alone two.

Mayfield later submitted to a second test that also was ruled positive.

Asked Friday if Adderrall was on the list of substances banned by NASCAR, Poston declined to comment -- citing a gag order that had earlier been issued by a North Carolina state judge regarding the case.

"Out of respect to the state ruling asking us not to discuss the specific drugs or the drug-testing process, I will refrain from answering that. But I do think most of that is matter of public record," Poston said.

"The gag order is specifically about specific drugs and the drug-testing policy itself, so obviously we will continue to try to respect that order."

Pressed again about the drug Adderrall, Poston added: "Dr. Black and his team obviously will work with competitors on prescribed medicine. And we do that quite often on a case-to-case basis. Remember, the policy is that the misuse of abuse of any drug is a violation of the substance-abuse policy.

"Out of respect of the gag order, I'm going to refrain from getting too close to discussing what the substances [were] and what the process was."

No court hearing has been set as yet for NASCAR's countersuit claims.

• Audio: NASCAR countersues Mayfield