On Could 9, 2009, Jeremy Mayfield’s life modified endlessly.
That was the day that Mayfield, then a NASCAR Cup Collection veteran of 17 years, was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on account of a violation of NASCAR’s substance abuse coverage.
Mayfield vehemently denied taking unlawful substances each then and now and describes 2009 as a yr when he and his household have been pressured to “choose up the items” after an extended authorized battle.
“It was one thing that Shana (Mayfield) and I weren’t prepared for,” Mayfield stated. “When one thing like that hits you, you must begin taking it in the future at a time. Each day, it felt like we have been being hit from someplace. We simply could not get forward of the circumstances. We have been continuously behind so far as our lawsuit with NASCAR went. It was only a fixed uphill battle.”
Whereas Mayfield has competed in a number of short-track races and sequence within the 15 years since his suspension from NASCAR, he hasn’t made a nationwide sequence begin in that decade-and-a-half span.
“When it was throughout with, we have been simply glad it was over and felt it was time to maneuver on. We needed to choose up the items, and Shana and I simply moved on from it. It was powerful, in all probability the hardest factor I’ve ever been by way of. I would not need anybody else to undergo it. However we felt like we have been proper in what we did. We stood up for what we believed in and fought all the best way to the tip.”
“To this present day, I would not change a factor.”
When requested what his conversations with NASCAR’s brass have been like in the course of the controversy, Mayfield gave a shocking reply.
Mayfield says he was by no means afforded the chance to talk with any NASCAR higher-ups throughout or after the scenario, saying he solely “talked with a few lower-level executives.”
“If we might’ve sat down on Day 1, earlier than they made any bulletins, we might have had it labored out. However they did not need to do this. I could not speak to Brian France, I could not speak to Jim France. They only threw it out to the general public, and the harm was performed to me already.”
“There was nothing else I might do. To this present day, I nonetheless have not sat down with both of them and talked about it. That is what sucks, they did not need to discuss it. As quickly as they instructed me about my (drug) check and stated I failed, I stated ‘I am positive I did. I used to be taking adderall.’ I instructed them that. I did precisely what (NASCAR’s drug coverage) stated. That wasn’t ok. It (NASCAR) is a family-owned enterprise, however when it comes all the way down to it, you’ll be able to’t speak to anyone within the household.”
Mayfield says that lack of communication and transparency results in these throughout the sport feeling that they are unable to resolve points in a succint method.
Mayfield then referred to the story of the late Tim Richmond, who burst onto the Cup Collection scene within the 80s, solely to see drug-related controversies rapidly derail his profession. Richmond died in August of 1989, by no means having been given the possibility to clarify his aspect of the story.
“They rigged his (Tim Richmond’s) (drug) check. They admitted it. They mainly instructed the drug testing firm to seek out one thing to make it a optimistic check. They (NASCAR) are able to something,” Mayfield added.
Within the current day, NASCAR finds itself in the midst of one other authorized bout. On Oct. 2, 23XI Racing and Entrance Row Motorsports filed a lawsuit in opposition to the stock-car racing big, with lawyer Jeffrey Kessler calling NASCAR the “poster little one for a monopoly.”
“For Michael Jordan to do this (file a lawsuit) says so much. He would not have ever performed that if it (NASCAR) had been performed the proper manner,” Mayfield stated. “Once they leap in and file this lawsuit in opposition to NASCAR, that ought to say so much.”
All quotations obtained firsthand until in any other case famous.
