After NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive on May 9 for a banned substance, there’s been a swirling undercurrent of rumor and whispers, all of which has been significantly spurred along by Mayfield’s repeated insistence that it was due to over-the-counter medication. Hell, he even sued to get back on the track, even while doctors have issued statements that have essentially said, “there is no way he’s telling the truth.”
(Trust me, this isn’t a Google Image search you ever, ever want to do.)
ESPN THE MAGAZINE has broken through the gag orders and redactions to find the drug for which Mayfield tested positive, and uh… this ain’t good, Jeremy. This ain’t good at all. According to two independent sources, the substance in question was methamphetamine. Daaamn.
Mayfield’s attorneys contend that the failed test was a false positive test reading, triggered by either a mixture of the two acknowledged drugs ingested or by poorly executed testing procedures. In their lawsuit filed May 29, Mayfield’s legal team pointed to Nashville-based AEGIS Sciences, the corporation contracted by NASCAR to conduct the league’s random drug screenings, which were implemented for the first time this season.
It’s cruelly poetic, but NASCAR had mentioned in their June 5 countersuit against Mayfield that the drug for which he has tested positive had effects that included “excessive aggression or exaggerated self-confidence” as well as numerous other health problems. Why, you might ask, is that noteworthy? Well…
“I don’t need to go to rehab,” Mayfield told a group of reporters at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 16, a surprise track visit that violated the terms of his suspension. “Because I don’t have a problem.”
Right. That’s the kind of talk that’ll land you on Dr. Phil before you can say “mustache.”
10:22 pm on June 9th, 2009
Meth is the generic for Claritin, right?
11:04 pm on June 9th, 2009
Mayfield has a prescription for Adderall a drug for ADHD which is an amphetamine. If it's safe for kids why is it out of line for him? Even the Olympic drug expert that ESPN brought on has said that it's legal, although sometimes banned by sports federations, and it could possibly create false positives for methaphetimine. The drug expert also brought up NASCAR's secret drug list and poor lab policy, using the same labe for both the initial and back up tests. Of course as soon as he was off it went right back to how wrong Mayfield was for being a meth-head. Claritin-D the other drug has pseudoephedrine which is cooked down to make crystal meth.
9:03 am on June 10th, 2009
I thought that meth ruined people, physically and mentally, by its addiction. Does JM look like the meth heads you see on the news and in the paper? I don't believe he is an addict, but in the court of public (espn) opinion, he is. Screw the facts, we have a 6 pm SC that needs filler. Sorry JM it had to come to this.
10:46 am on June 10th, 2009
Just check his teeth.
That will tell you how bad hes got it