Calls for NASCAR to Reveal Mayfield's Drug Violation Not Neccessary

Ryan Newman jumped on the bandwagon Thursday night asking for NASCAR to become a tell-all of Jeremy Mayfield's apparent drug use.

"I think everyone wants a list right now," said Newman of NASCAR's banned substances. "The whole system would be fixed if they just tell us what Jeremy did."

Sadly, Newman couldn't be more wrong because such a list wouldn't 'fix' a problem and the precedent set by both NASCAR and other major sports leagues has said that revealing an accused user's drug of choice is not an option.

I get where Newman and the rest of the NASCAR drivers and media members on the tell-all brigade this week are coming from. It's scary to think that one week a guy like Jeremy Mayfield, who from all previous accounts was a just a guy trying to scrap his way back into the Sprint Cup Series, can be sidelined in such a shocking way.

They feel like a bit of the rug has been swiped from under their feet and that more drivers are next on the list.

"To be honest with you, I'm a little scared," Newman said. "I'm afraid to take Nyquil. If I get a cold I don't know what to take. To me this is extremely gray, extremely vague."

Frankly, it's all a bit of an overreaction.

I'd be willing to bet that NASCAR, and more narrowly their contracted drug testing company Aegis Sciences Corporation, know that the ill effects of placing a driver on suspension after a positive test are staunch and steep, and that a mistake in the process leaves them wide open for a large lawsuit.

The only real reason drivers are scared is because Mayfield has disputed the results in the media as a combination of drugs for allergies. There wasn't an admission or arrest, as was the case in the last high-profile drug case in the sport with the admitted heroin use of former driver Aaron Fike.

But you've got to take into account that NASCAR tested Mayfield once, revealed to him that he had failed the test, and allowed him to submit another sample. Both showed the same substances when tested by Aegis and obviously left little doubt in the eyes of both companies to take such drastic and newsworthy action.

You think NASCAR likes having its name connected to drug abuse? Surely not.

Reports are a little conflicting on how exactly teams were notified at the beginning of the season on which drugs to avoid. Some have said only a list was published for crew members and others have said NASCAR handed out a 300-page brick with the illicit substances. Lists, however, don't stop abusers.

Regardless, confusion on what exactly is illegal doesn't mean NASCAR should reveal what Mayfield was busted for.

Do we know what Manny Ramirez took exactly to earn a 50-game suspension in baseball? Nope. And what about the other crew members this season -- including one fired from Mayfield's team earlier this year -- who have been busted for failed drug tests?

No information was released at all, begging the question as to why Jeremy Mayfield's status would be any different.

And who knows, perhaps an issue involving medical privacy law might be a big factor in revealing what substance earned Mayfield the boot.

We're now 11 races in to the Sprint Cup season and just one driver has found the ill end of the new drug testing policy that started back in February. Hundreds, if not thousands, of tests have been run with just a handful coming up on the wrong side of the indicator strip.

The biggest issue here isn't what Mayfield took or the witchhunt going on to find out, but rather that NASCAR's drug policy seems to be working, even if a little more clarity for the comfort of drivers is needed.