NASCAR news: new drug policy begins soon
Tony Stewart racked up his first win of 2008 and also his first win at the Talladega Superspeedway along with some scuttlebutt. Stewart won the race but wasn’t the first to cross the finish line.
Truckers Connection
11/4/2008
Nov 9
Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil
Phoenix International Raceway
Nov 16
Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
New drug policy begins 2009
NASCAR has announced an updated drug policy, which will include random testing beginning in 2009. NASCAR held a mandatory drivers' meeting for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competitors on hand during the racing weekend at Dover, including some team owners and crew members. A similar meeting was also held for the Craftsman Truck Series members.
"We get asked a lot of questions as to why we did this, why now. We think it's always incumbent upon all of us at NASCAR to think safety first — that's the safety of our competitors and the fans. That's why we've got this policy in place moving forward in 2009," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR vice president of racing operations.
NASCAR will continue to work with its outside experts at AEGIS Sciences Corporation and its founder, Dr. David L. Black. AEGIS, the largest sports and forensic testing laboratory in the U.S., helped design and implement NASCAR's substance-abuse policy.
AEGIS personnel will administer all preseason and random substance-abuse tests, and O'Donnell said a computer-generated list would be used at "most if not all" weekends to test "from 12 to 14 people." O'Donnell said in a typical weekend, an average of two drivers per series would be tested with the balance coming from the ranks of over-the-wall crewmen and officials.
Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president of corporate communications, said the tests would not impact the conduct of a race weekend, with the results available in "from three days to a week, as they are now."
The selection would be so random that O'Donnell said a driver could be tested every week in the season, or never after the preseason test is given. And he deflected any concern about bias.
"I think you could say that if we were the ones administering the test, but we're not — this is done by an outside agency," O'Donnell said. "They do this every day for NCAA tournament teams. And Jim brought up a good point [in that AEGIS doesn't know who they're testing].
"The way that AEGIS will do the computer program is really by a number. So it will be random generation. They'll see a number that will come up [and] we'll associate that number with a particular driver. So the people who are involved in our testing do this every day and really aren't as familiar with who is who. It will just be a number to them of who's coming in to administer a test to."
The amended policy mandates that all drivers in NASCAR's three national series, Cup, Nationwide and Truck, be tested prior to the start of the 2009 season. Team owners must also verify that all licensed crew members have been tested by a lab certified by the U.S. government agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, prior to the start of the season.
O'Donnell said that "baseline test" would be done by AEGIS personnel during preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway, and all drivers present would be required to submit samples. He said anyone who failed to show up for a scheduled test would be considered as having failed the test.
In addition, NASCAR will test its officials prior to the start of the 2009 season. Drivers, over-the-wall crew members and NASCAR officials thereafter will be subject to random tests throughout the year, while the original program of testing on the basis of "reasonable suspicion" would also remain in place.
NASCAR will be responsible for the cost all of the tests, the preseason baseline tests for the competitors and officials and then all of the random tests throughout the year. Car owners will be responsible for the cost of their licensed crew member tests prior to the start of the season.
Bailout helps tracks
While there was much controversy over whether Congress should or should not pass the famously-dubbed “bailout” bill, tensions rose further as the public began hearing about the amount of “pork” that dappled the pages of the economic bill. And in that pork? Language that gives favorable tax treatment to racetracks that is merely a two-year extension of a provision in the tax code passed in October 2004.
Under that provision, racetracks are considered in the same classification as amusement parks and are allowed to recover outlays for capital improvements through depreciation for seven years, rather than the more customary 15 years.
Wes Harris, senior director of corporate and investor communications for International Speedway Corp., said the extension covers only those improvements made within the walls of the racetrack between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2009. Accordingly, the installation of SAFER barriers or upgrades to concession stands would be included, while the construction of a new administration building outside the track would not.
The section of the bill pertaining to racetracks occupies two paragraphs in the 451-page document. Harris said the favorable treatment is likely to encourage track owners across the country to make improvements sooner rather than later.
"It's an economic engine," he said. "It creates jobs."
Stewart tacks up first win of 08, first win at Talladega
Rarely without some type of controversy, Tony Stewart racked up his first win of 2008 and also his first win at the Talladega Superspeedway along with some scuttlebutt. Stewart won the race but wasn’t the first to cross the finish line.
Huh? It seems the No. 01 car driven by rookie Regan Smith crossed the finish line first…technically…but considering he had passed the leader Stewart on the inside and dropped below the yellow line, NASCAR tagged that a big no-no and took the win from Smith and dropped him back to 18th spot as penalty, awarding the win to Stewart, who’d finished the race in 2nd place six times previously.
"You cannot improve your position any time you go below the yellow line," NASCAR vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter said. "In our judgment, he [Smith] improved his position, and the penalty for that is a pass-through, so he was moved back to the tail end of the longest line, or 18th position.
"At the drivers' meeting, we clearly state that you cannot improve your position by going below the yellow line. We do not feel he was forced below the yellow line. We respect Regan's view, but we made the call, we think it's the right call and the finish is final."