From ESPN
Mayfield Goes To Court to Lift Ban
Jeremy Mayfield sought a temporary restraining order on Friday in an attempt to lift his suspension and return to his No. 41 Sprint Cup car until his case is settled
Court to continue case next week by David Newton ESPN.com
CHARLOTTE N.C. -- A judge on Friday denied Jeremy Mayfield's request for a temporary restraining order that would have lifted the NASCAR driver's suspension and enabled him to race his No. 41 Sprint Cup car until his case is settled.
A hearing was scheduled in Mecklenburg County Court for Wednesday to allow a judge to determine whether Mayfield, who was suspended May 9 for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, can compete at Pocono next weekend.
The judge on Friday issued a gag order preventing attorneys for Mayfield and NASCAR from discussing the case.
Mayfield and his attorney, Bill Diehl, filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging NASCAR's suspension of Mayfield on what it said was a failed random drug test.
In presenting Mayfield's side, John Buric, an attorney in Diehl's firm, said Mayfield had taken Claritin-D, an allergy drug, in addition to Adderall, a prescription medication used to treat attention deficit disorder.
Buric said according to NASCAR, Mayfield had tested positive for amphetamines; Adderall is a name-brand amphetamine. Mayfield was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR as a driver and owner on May 9 for violating its substance abuse policy.
It was not immediately clear whether Adderall or its ingredients are on NASCAR's banned substance list. NASCAR has not identified which drug Mayfield tested positive for or made its list of banned substances public.
Mayfield has contended from the beginning that he did not do anything wrong and that the positive test was the result of combining a prescription drug with Claritin-D. Dr. David Black, who runs NASCAR's testing program, has since ruled that out as a possibility.
Mayfield's request for an injunction listed seven charges, from breach of character to unjustly preventing Mayfield from participating in any NASCAR function and thus earn a living. Diehl also asked that NASCAR officials stop talking publicly about Mayfield's drug test.
Before the ruling, NASCAR's attorneys, led by Paul Hendrick, had sought more time to respond to the complaint, saying there was no way for Mayfield to race this weekend.
Hendrick said Mayfield should not be allowed back on the track. "We cannot allow people to drive when we think that he has issues of drug abuse or a positive test," he said.
Buric said the drug test results should be thrown out and Mayfield allowed to drive again. He said the specimen collection process was not properly conducted and the second test was not conducted by a different lab than the first test -- a violation of federal guidelines for drug testing.
"There is nothing he can do to fix this but throw out the results and let him go out and race," Buric said.
Hendrick argued that NASCAR is not held to federal employee guidelines because it is a private entity. He said the drug Mayfield tested for was a "dangerous, iIlegal, banned substance" and that to allow Mayfield to drive would be dangerous to the driver, other competitors and fans.
NASCAR president Mike Helton was in attendance with spokesman Kerry Tharp, as was Mayfield and his wife Shana, who is the owner of Mayfield's racing team while he is suspended.
NASCAR chairman Brian France said the suspension was for a "serious infraction," defining "serious" as the use of a recreational or performance-enhancing drug. Sources have said Mayfield did not test for a performance-enhancing drug.
Mayfield hired Diehl, one of North Carolina's most prominent attorneys, to challenge the findings. Diehl said it was "pretty compelling that we get" the restraining order.
"If [the judge] signs it, it'll lift the suspension," he said.
France said last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway that the governing body has no plans to settle the issue out of court and stands by its policy.
Meanwhile, in Dover, Del., the Sprint Cup team owned by Shana Mayfield withdrew its entry for this weekend's race.
Mayfield Motorsports did not bring the No. 41 to Dover International Speedway and attempt to qualify for Sunday's race.
JJ Yeley was originally on the entry list, but a posting on his Web site said he would not be travelling to Dover. There was no team hauler in the Cup garage Friday.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
