One of the most controversial aspects of NASCAR’s embattled drug policy has been cleared up. The sanctioning body has finally published the list of banned substances in the 2010 rule book so there will be no questions as to what the drivers are being tested for. We’re pretty sure this addition is the result of a recommendation made by NASCAR’s legal team as the Jeremy Mayfield lawsuit saga is on-going, with this being one of the contested issues.
In 2009, NASCAR claims that team owners were given the list of banned substances, but even some of the team owners claim to have never seen any concrete list of drugs that violate the policy. The list appears in the NASCAR rule book, so there is no question as to where the data can be found.
In a story published on ESPN.com, Steve O’Donnell, the VP of racing operations for NASCAR, told David Newton, “What we’ve done is taken the list of substances we provided to owners at the beginning of last year. We’ve included that in the rulebook. We’ve also, for a clarity standpoint, included our entire policy in the rulebook for 2010 as well.”
That is in stark contrast to the vague answers NASCAR officials were giving both the media and Jeremy Mayfield last year when Mayfield was suspend from the sport for violating a policy that had no readily available list, and no readily available published guidelines. Even experts in the field of drug testing were taking pot shots at NASCAR’s policy and execution last season. This move appears to answer all of those concerns.
Source — ESPN.com — NASCAR lists banned substances
