When Jeremy Mayfield sued NASCAR in an attempt to overturn his indefinite suspension stemming from an alleged failed drug test, he did more than just take on the sanctioning body and its army of lawyers. He also inserted himself into an arena where major American sports leagues rarely lose -- the courtroom.

Mayfield speaks out

Jeremy Mayfield describes his fight against suspension: "To say that the last two months have been two of the worst months of my entire life is an understatement."

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The temporary injunction won by Mayfield in U.S. District Court on July 1 -- an injunction that is currently being appealed by NASCAR -- may have lifted the driver's suspension, but it didn't resolve the suit Mayfield filed against NASCAR after he allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine in a random drug test more than two months ago. Should that suit go to trial, and should Mayfield win it, no doubt the result would have seismic ramifications for NASCAR, whose fledging random testing policy is under enough scrutiny as it is. But it would also be something of a rarity, given that big-time sports leagues have a track record in the courtroom almost as untouchable as Jimmie Johnson's at Martinsville Speedway.

Leagues like the NFL and Major League Baseball get sued all the time, sometimes by desperate attention-seekers, sometimes by other parties they're embroiled in petty arguments with, and sometimes by plaintiffs -- even their own athletes, on occasion -- who believe they have a legitimate gripe. As evidenced by NASCAR's own near-spotless legal record, the leagues prevail an overwhelming percentage of the time. Maybe it's because they hire better attorneys, maybe it's because it's difficult to find truly impartial judges and juries, maybe it's because they're very good at writing down standards and policies and adhering to them. Whatever the reason, it's difficult to find a truly game-changing victory by a plaintiff over a sports league of the magnitude that many believe a Mayfield victory would be.

It's happened, of course. In 1971 basketball star Spencer Haywood left the University of Detroit after his sophomore season and was signed by Seattle, in clear violation of an NBA rule barring players who have not completed at least four years of college from turning pro. Haywood filed an antitrust action against the NBA, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 for Haywood and opened the door for underclassmen to begin entering the league. That's about as game-changing as it gets, a legal action that ultimately forces a sports league to change its rules, and the ramifications of which are still evident today.

But don't hold your breath looking for others. Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett sued the NFL for a similar reason in 2003, challenging the rule that prospective draftees must be at least three years removed from high school. Clarett won at the District Court level, but a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals -- which included current Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- upheld the NFL's age restriction, which still stands. So do the NBA's salary cap and rookie draft, targets of a failed 1994 antitrust suit filed by the league's own players' association. When it comes to sports leagues and lawsuits, those cases are the rule rather than the exception. Mayfield may have won his temporary injunction, but he's still a very long way from any kind of real victory.

When sports leagues get sued, settlements are often the result. NASCAR has gone that route before, settling with Texas Motor Speedway shareholder Francis Ferko in 2004 -- a decision that led Darlington and Rockingham to lose races -- and with Mauricia Grant, the former Nationwide Series official who filed a $225 million racial discrimination lawsuit last year. The NFL has done the same thing, settling with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over a marketing dispute in 1996, with the widow of Korey Stringer, the Minnesota Vikings player who died of heatstroke at training camp, in 2001, and with journeyman wide receiver Antonio Bryant over a disputed drug test in 2007. A settlement in the Mayfield case would be something of a surprise, given how acrimonious things have become between the two sides, and that the driver's ultimate goal is to get back on the race track. And yet, history tells us that it's a far more likely outcome than an outright Mayfield victory.

Because it's hard to beat a big league in court. Just ask the seven players who sued the NFL in 2006, claiming the league sanctioned an investment firm with a shaky past that cost the players millions of dollars. They lost. Or the folks at Kentucky Speedway, who following Texas' lead tried to wrangle a Sprint Cup date out of NASCAR with a lawsuit. They lost. Or the New York Rangers, which sued the NHL claiming that the team and not the league should control the franchise's official Web site. They lost. Or the three former players who sued baseball in 2003, claiming that reverse racism had cost them pension and medical benefits. They lost. Or the owner of a Baltimore ballclub shunned by the National League in 1922, who filed an antitrust claim. He not only lost, he instigated a suit that went to the Supreme Court, which rendered a decision that baseball was not interstate commerce and therefore exempt from antitrust laws. That little legal loophole has kept Major League Baseball almost impervious to challenges for nearly a century now.

Obviously, none of these incidents serve as real legal precedent in the Mayfield case. And obviously, there are times when the leagues get beaten. There's a good chance of that happening next year, in fact, when the NFL goes before the Supreme Court to try and protect its apparel licensing deal by claiming it is a single business entity rather than 32 separate ones. Baseball may have a legal headache on its hands as well if former slugger Jose Canseco makes good on his threat to file a class action suit for lost wages and defamation of character. And then there's NASCAR, mired in legal proceedings against Mayfield, potentially waiting on a trial that could take months to become a reality.

Should that happen, you'd have to think that NASCAR would like its chances. After all, it's tough to bring down a sports league in court. The old United States Football League tried in 1986, filing an antitrust lawsuit that claimed the NFL held a monopoly in areas like television rights and stadium access. The USFL asked for $567 million, an amount that under antitrust law would have been tripled. They actually won the case, too -- and were awarded damages of $3 by a jury. When it comes to lawsuits, sometimes the big leagues win even when they lose.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.