"In the end, it's the responsibility of the sport to make sure that all the drivers in the seats are clean." - Kevin Harvick
"No issue or conversation that we have with a driver, owner or team member ever falls on deaf ears." - Kerry Tharp, Public Relations Jester
"Obviously, it doesn't work because we've had a couple (of cases) here in the last three years,"
team owner Ray Evernham said last year.
"NASCAR still hasn't caught him. The police did." - Kevin Harvick
"In the 10 years that I've raced, I've never been drug tested." - Kevin Harvick
"I've never been asked to take one (drug test) yet." - Tony Stewart
"In the five years I've been in NASCAR, I've never been checked (for drugs) and never asked to be checked" - JJ Yeley
Hey Jeff! As a certified medical review officer, certified to evaluate drug tests for the federal government, I sent a proposal to NASCAR over 2 years ago part of which included a truly random drug testing program. What I got in return was a letter from Brain France's attorney stating that they were returning it because they do not accept ideas from people outside of NASCAR. Now I understand that only people in NASCAR have great ideas but I believe as an outsider it was a good idea then and still is today. Maybe they should rethink their policies!!! - Douglas Borkowski's comment on Scenedaily.com article by Jeff Owens on NA$CAR drug policy.
Well folks, for those who have been reading my ramblings for a while, you can take a coffee break. For you folks who missed it, here's my take on drug testing in NA$CAR. Mandatory Random Drug Testing for Everyone. Nobody is exempt. Everybody from Faux King Brian all the way down to the shop "gopher" pushing a broom gets tested to establish a baseline. Then after that, it's totally random. Everybody is eligible to be tested. You never know when it's going to be your turn. You get a call out of the blue and it's off for the old "Golden Flow". You handle it just like they do in the military. Everybody from 4 star generals all the way down to slick sleeve recruits get tested with no exceptions. The same needs to be done in NA$CAR. When you're driving an 850+ HP vehicle, you don't want to have to worry that the driver next to you or behind you is "flying high" on something and could take you out along with the rest of the field and cause somebody to lose their life or be seriously injured. You also want to be sure that whoever works on your car is totally clean and sober. This reasonable suspicion deal hasn't worked when you consider how many drivers have been caught, caught again, and even caught a third time.
My time in the garage area wasn't exactly a career, but in my time there I did meet one individual who smoked pot. He admitted it to me. Luckily he's no longer working in the sport. I also met an alcoholic. He was a top notch crew chief at one point in his career. He's no longer in NA$CAR. After I started writing my missives, I found out about 3 individuals on a team who were smoking pot when I did an interview and they were even doing it at the track. It took somebody from outside the organization (not me, but an outside entity used by that team) to get NA$CAR's attention about these 3. I know at least one of them is no longer in the sport because it was reported in the mainstream media due to his position as a Cup crew chief. That might explain why the driver's car performed so poorly during that time frame. Something needs to be done before we do have a serious injury or death caused by somebody who's under the influence.
Would you want somebody building your car who was under the influence and might miss a weld at a critical spot or miss tightening a bolt to the
transmission, rear end, or shocks? There is a
definite danger there to not only the driver of that
car but every other driver on the track as well as
the folks on pit road. The job is dangerous
enough because of it's nature. There's no need
to compound it with people who are under the
influence of legal and/or illegal drugs or alcohol.
Are you listening Your Majesty? Probably not
since your mouthpieces and court jesters keep
saying there's no problem like Kevin Bacon near
the end of the movie Animal House telling
panicking people to remain calm just before he
gets trampled.
I want to salute the folks of the USO. They've
been keeping our troops entertained and bringing them a little piece of home for almost 70 years. Troops who served during WW II, Korea, and Vietnam were entertained by an ex-British boxer who became a comedian. Bob Hope. Folks who worked with Bob on his USO tours reads like a Hollywood Who's Who list. And although Bob passed on, some entertainers are still carrying on his work. The USO runs lounges in various airports around the country for our troops and their families to be able to relax and get away from the regular airport hassles. They also assist them when they have problems with air travel or get stuck in airports. There's a lot they do in supporting our troops and helping out their families. The USO is always in need of volunteers and donations, so if you can help them out, please do.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, & John Wayne
Mad Mikie
Curmudgeon at Large
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