Auto Racing Capsules: Judge lifts suspension, says Mayfield can race

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Two months after a positive drug test for methamphetamines, Jeremy Mayfield is getting ready to return to NASCAR.

U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction to allow the driver to get back behind the wheel at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

"This is huge for us," Mayfield said. "This means more to me probably than any race I've ever won or anything."

Concluding the "likelihood of a false positive in this case is quite substantial," Mullen said as he ruled in Mayfield's favor after about two hours of arguments, including NASCAR's contention that Mayfield is a danger to the sport after testing positive for high amounts of a dangerous, illegal drug.

But Mullen sided with Mayfield's attorney, Bill Diehl, who argued the test results would only be accurate if Mayfield were a habitual meth user. If Mayfield used the drug at the levels the NASCAR test indicated, Diehl suggested Mayfield would be "either a walking zombie or he's dead."

"His teeth were never rotting out, his eyes were not sunken," Diehl said. "He never displayed any characteristics that are commonly seen by everyone among people who use meth."

In an affidavit filed last week, Mayfield denied ever using methamphetamines and said he didn't know how he failed the May 1 random drug test. He was suspended eight days later.

Mullen ruled the "harm to Mr. Mayfield significantly outweighs the harm to NASCAR" in issuing the injunction, which doesn't settle the larger civil suit filed by Mayfield or NASCAR's countersuit.

"We're disappointed, but we'll honor the court's wishes. That's where we stand," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "I'm not going to comment on what we're going to do yet on the next legal process."

To address NASCAR's concerns of allowing someone who tested positive for an illegal drug back on the track, Mullen said NASCAR can test Mayfield constantly and ask for a hair sample "to determine if he's been a meth-head or not."

"If they want it, I cut it about once a week so we can do that," Mayfield said. "Whatever we've got to do."

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Mayfield will be required to undergo a drug test if he attempts to qualify for Saturday night's race. Mayfield said he gladly would submit to any tests.

He also might have to win over some drivers. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson submitted affidavits last week as part of a NASCAR filing. In the court documents, the drivers said they are not "willing to put my life at risk driving a race car on a NASCAR track with drivers testing positive for drugs that diminish their capacity to drive a race car."

Mayfield said he understands drivers won't hesitate to share their feelings.

"We heard Jimmie also say during the week in one of the interviews that it wasn't directed at me, it was the policy," Mayfield said. "I understand that. That's what they feel. It's part of it."

But it's still unclear whether Mayfield will be able to secure the money needed to bring his low-budget car to Daytona - considered one of the most dangerous NASCAR tracks because of speeds upward of 200 mph and bunched-up racing on the superspeedway.

The deadline to enter Saturday's race was June 23. Mayfield, however, still can join the race as a late entry until the garage opens at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Mayfield also suggested he might attempt to drive a car for another team.

"It's kind of late in the game right now, but we're able to go," Mayfield said. "That was our goal, to be able to go back to work and race cars."

Mayfield broke into a wide smile after the ruling was his announced after a 20-minute recess following about two hours of testimony. His wife, Shana, sitting near the back of the courtroom, briefly jumped out of her seat, puts her hands to her face and started crying.

"The truth came out," Mayfield said.

Mayfield has blamed his positive test result on the combination of Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Claritin-D for allergies, an explanation repeatedly debunked by NASCAR's program administrator.

NASCAR attorney Paul Hendrick added the "massive amounts" of methamphetamines in the drug sample indicate Mayfield's claim is a "statement that's simply not true."

Added another NASCAR attorney, Helen Maher: "This is not a case about chocolate milk or orange juice. This is about public safety."

"Who will protect the drivers? Who will protect the fans?" she asked, if Mayfield were allowed back on the track.

He was, after Diehl successfully argued there enough inconsistencies in the testing system - including failing to get his backup "B" sample tested by an independent laboratory - to create the possibility that Mayfield was wronged.

"Now we've cleared the air," Mayfield said. "Hopefully everybody will think different of me now."

Logano expected to get many more wins

Joe Gibbs didn't expect his gamble to pay off so soon.

The car owner hedged when asked whether he expected Joey Logano to win a race during his rookie season in Sprint Cup.

"Do I need to tell the truth on that?" the former NFL coach replied, grinning.

The kid who started driving when he was 4 years old, wheeling a go-kart around the yard of his father's hazardous waste disposal business in Portland, Conn., is now 19 and racing with the big boys in NASCAR.

On his journey to the Sprint Cup series, Logano has proved over and over that he is a phenom, winning races at every level.

Now he's a winner in Cup, the youngest driver to reach Victory Lane in NASCAR's 61-year history.

The first of what most observers believe will be many Cup wins came Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Logano won a rain-shortened race.

Crew chief Greg Zipadelli gambled on leaving the youngster on track as his gas ran low, and the rain came just in time, giving Logano the win in his 20th Cup start. At 19 years, 1 month and 4 days, he is more than a year younger than Kyle Busch was in 2005 when he won for the first time at 20 years, 4 months and 2 days.

But before Sunday, winning in Cup seemed a long time away for Logano, the most hyped young driver since Jeff Gordon came along in the early '90s.

Overall, it hasn't been a particularly good rookie season for Logano, who replaced two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart when he decided to leave Joe Gibbs Racing to become an owner-driver.

Going into New Hampshire, Logano's best finishes were a trio of ninths. Even with the win, he is 21st in the points heading into Saturday night's race at Daytona.

But even when Logano has struggled with the adjustment to the Cup car this season, Gibbs has liked what he has seen.

"He continues to improve," Gibbs said. "I think we all feel (that) at the end of the race he's always better, running much harder, and I think that's going to bode well for us as we go forward and come back to these places a second time (this season)."

The team owner was quick to point out that NASCAR's ban on most testing this season has hurt Logano more than veteran the drivers.

"At the time (Logano got the ride in the 20), we thought we were going to test a bunch, and that got taken away from us," Gibbs said. "So then you're putting Joey out there with the best in the world, this is the best people in the world doing this, and he's having to compete at places he's never seen, really."

Logano still seemed a little stunned by the win a few hours after the race officially ended as he sat in his No. 20 Toyota on pit road, the rain pouring down.

But a win is a win.

"I'm not going to give it back," he said, laughing. "I think every win is a big win to me. It's the mentality I've got. You want to win every race no matter where you're at."

Stewart, the series points leader with his new Stewart-Haas Racing team, said Logano should definitely not be embarrassed or reluctant to take credit for his first win, despite the circumstances.

"I said, 'Ten years down the road nobody's ever going to know how this win came.' But, the thing is, they still had to earn it," Stewart said. "They had to put themselves in position to be in this spot. They did a good job strategy wise."

Logano, who got the first of his three Nationwide victories in his third start in that series, said the learning curve in Sprint Cup has been steep.

"It's tough, believe me, it's real tough," said Logano, who made his first Cup start at New Hampshire last September, finishing 32nd. "If you think of last year in the Nationwide Series, yeah, I had some good runs. Did I run where I thought I needed to? No. I think it just took time.

"Now, over there, I think I know what it takes and over here we are working on it and, obviously, from what we did in the beginning of the season to now, we are running a lot better. If you look at my first race here last year, (it) was completely opposite of this."

Even before Sunday's win, though, Logano had felt the improvement, and gotten plenty of support from Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief for 10 years.

"It's motivating just to keep seeing yourself getting better and working with Zippy and all of the guys and getting that communication going helps us improve a lot, too," Logano said. "I try to go to every track with the same mindset, you know, and just go out there, do the best you can, and go for the win."

-- Mike Harris

McMurray stays optimistic in disappointing season

Jamie McMurray could hardly wait to get the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season going.

After all, he closed out last year with five top-10 finishes in the last six races, including three straight third-place runs to end the season.

But after a 33rd-place showing in the No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford at New Hampshire on Sunday, McMurray finds himself a disappointing 22nd in the season standings. Heading into Saturday's race at Daytona - where the last of his two Cup wins came in July 2007 - McMurray has just three top-10s this year with his best finish a seventh-place at Richmond.

"At the beginning of the season, we probably ran a little bit better than what we are right now," McMurray said. "We ended last year with those three third-place finishes and started the year off qualifying really well, and we actually raced real well, (but) had flat tires, a transmission break and other stuff.

"We haven't run that bad, we just haven't been stellar. And some of that has been circumstantial. I believe we've had a little bit better car than where we've finished."

Teammates Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are all among the top 12 and appear headed for berths in the Chase for the championship, while McMurray and David Ragan, 30th in the points, continue to struggle.

McMurray said any problems he and Ragan have are not from a lack of team communication.

"They share everything," he said. "Anything that any engineer, crew chief or driver wants from another team is there. It's just that it doesn't always work for you.

"I feel like Matt and I share the most. If we have a weekend where we've tried a lot of things and it hasn't worked and Matt has a different setup, I would feel very confident putting that in. And Matt is the same way towards me.

But Kenseth, who started the year with victories at Daytona and California, is 10th in the points and McMurray is all but out of the race for the Chase.

"Our cars still drive pretty good, but it's just that it's so much closer this year than what it was even was last year," McMurray said. "And I think by our team not qualifying as well as it has, that's hurt us a little bit. But it doesn't take much to make your car better.

"I don't think that we need to reinvent the wheel. I think it's just fine-tuning. Racing goes in spurts. Last year when we were qualifying so well and we were finishing in the top three the last few races, we didn't do anything different than we did the rest of the season or what we're doing right now. It's just the cautions kind of fell your way and you just kind of hit on something each weekend."

McMurray is hoping that type of magic will happen again, and soon.

Roush Fenway has to cut down to four Cup cars next season to meet NASCAR's rules and McMurray knows he could be the odd man out.

But after spending most of the 2005 season - his last year with Chip Ganassi's team - dealing with the rumor mill, McMurray is keeping his future plans to himself.

"In 2005, I was like, 'This is great, everybody is talking about me,' I found out there's no advantage of being involved in all of that," he said. "There's nothing to be gained by that."

Whatever happens, McMurray insists he is enjoying racing more than ever at 33.

"Honestly, I probably enjoy racing now more than I ever have," he said. "I don't know that I've become a better driver. But with experience, you make wiser decisions and you learn certain things about racetracks. And I enjoy the stuff off the track, like sponsor appearances and talking with fans, more than I did when I first got into this."

One reason he is enjoying himself, despite the lack of results, is being back together with crew chief Donnie Wingo, who joined the team over the winter.

"That transition's been effortless and Donnie's fit right in," McMurray said. "I worked with him for four years at Ganassi. As long as when the day's over, you feel like the engineer and the crew chief did everything that they could, that's satisfactory. Sometimes, you get the result and sometimes you don't."

With just nine races remaining before the start of the Chase, McMurray - 316 points behind 12th-place Juan Pablo Montoya - knows his chances of making NASCAR's postseason aren't very good. But he's trying to stay optimistic.

"I really feel like this is the best team I've ever been with," he said. "We have a really, really solid group of guys and I think that anything is possible.

"If you finish in the top five, the amount of points you accumulate, it's incredible. I don't think until you're mathematically eliminated, you never give up."

-- Mike Harris

Wood, Childress among nominees for Hall of Fame

NEW YORK - Former drivers-turned-owners Glen Wood and Richard Childress are among the 25 nominees for the first NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class.

NASCAR released the two names Wednesday ahead of the announcement of all nominees Thursday night.

Wood helped pioneer the modern-day pit stop, while Childress shares the record of 11 owner championships in NASCAR's three national series.

The first class, consisting of five members, will be inducted in conjunction with the opening of the Hall of Fame in Charlotte next May.

A 21-member committee selected the nominees from NASCAR drivers, owners and promoters.

Weber won't call last 2 NASCAR races on TNT

ATLANTA - Play-by-play announcer Bill Weber will not call the last two races of TNT's NASCAR coverage.

Weber wasn't in the booth for last weekend's race from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. TNT said Wednesday that Ralph Sheheen will again take his spot, working The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland.

TNT did not give a reason for Weber's absence. In a statement Sunday about the New Hampshire race, the network said: "As this is a private issue, it's the policy of the company not to discuss personal matters involving our employees."

IndyCar leaders fighting for position in points

INDIANAPOLIS - Ryan Briscoe was on top of the IndyCar world a week ago.

He was the points leader, had three straight runner-up finishes and was the only driver to complete every lap of every race. Then came a disastrous weekend at Richmond, and suddenly Roger Penske's Australian driver found himself behind two Target Chip Ganassi rivals.

It's been that kind of season in the Indy Racing League.

"I think to be leading the points is nice," Dario Franchitti said after Saturday's second-place finish gave him the top spot. "The stretch of results we've had is nice. But it can turn in an instant."

All of this year's contenders can attest to that.

Briscoe had been the model of consistency through the first seven races with five top-fives, that remarkable string of seconds and no DNFs. He led more laps than Franchitti and Scott Dixon combined until Saturday.

But Saturday's crash and 19th-place finish dropped Briscoe out of the lead.

Now Franchitti, the Scotsman who won the 2007 points title, leads Dixon, his teammate and the defending champion, by one point.

How topsy-turvy has this season been?

In a series in which the points race has generally been a one- or two-driver affair, four drivers - Franchitti, Briscoe, Brazil's Tony Kanaan and New Zealand's Dixon - have led at least once. Franchitti and Briscoe have each led three times, and Briscoe is the only driver to maintain the lead through back-to-back races.

Drivers don't expect that trend to change anytime soon.

"I think it means there's more than one guy to keep your eye on," Briscoe said. "Any one of the guys who is racing in front of you can be racing for the championship. I don't have any clear idea of who is the main guy. I hope it's me, and I'm sure Dario hopes it him."

Half a dozen drivers - or more - are still in contention.

Franchitti, Dixon and Briscoe, the top three, are separated by just 26 points. The series' most marketable drivers, three-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves and 2008 Japan winner Danica Patrick, have not led yet and are sitting fourth and fifth, 54 and 60 points behind Franchitti.

England's Dan Wheldon and Kanaan, both former points champions, are sixth and seventh, and 20-something Americans Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal are within 100 points of the leader, too.

"To be honest, people like (Rahal) getting in the mix is going to help us out a lot," Dixon said.

Series officials agree that having more drivers chasing the top spot is good for the series - and it could be even better if the bigger names finish the season strong.

"Clearly, they (Castroneves and Patrick) are the most recognizable drivers we have and the casual fan, or even the non-racing fan, knows who they are because of what's happened off the track," said Brian Barnhart, the series' president of competition. "It clearly would be an advantage for the league if they were the leaders or in contention for points."

They certainly could.

Patrick is having the best season of her career with seven straight top-10s and has already posted a career-high five top-fives. Patrick's only DNF came in the season-opener when she and Raphael Matos collided at St. Petersburg, leaving her 19th.

All of the leaders have had one of those.

Castroneves, the Brazilian who also drives for Penske, had his in the season-opener. His tax-evasion trial kept him out of the race, costing him valuable points. Yet only Dixon (three) has more wins than Castroneves or Franchitti (two).

Some think at least two drivers could end the dominance of Penske and Ganassi drivers, too.

Speculation that Patrick would leave Andretti Green Racing for NASCAR has not affected her performance on the track, though she has not been to Victory Lane since winning last spring in Japan.

Wheldon, the 2005 Indy champ now driving for Panther Racing, has looked strong at times, too. He's just 75 points off the pace and has seven straight top-10s.

But it could come down to the remaining schedule.

The series heads to Watkins Glen, N.Y., this weekend, then Toronto and then Edmonton. That's three straight road or street courses and the results could cause more changes in the standings.

"It brings more guys into play, to take points away or even win," Barnhart said. "You've got a lot of drivers that can do that, like the eight or nine we just talked about and you could even see a surprise."

It's so close, in fact, that nobody is willing to pick a favorite.

Even Franchitti.

"It's going to be a tough race this season," he said. "We're going to have to try and win every race, because Scott's going to be there. The Penske guys are going to be there. I think Graham's going to be there. The AGR car is going to be there. And especially on the road course, a bunch of other people. So it's going to be pretty exciting."

-- Michael Marot

Castroneves leads 2nd quarter DOY balloting

IndyCar racing's Helio Castroneves narrowly edged NASCAR's Tony Stewart in second-quarter voting for the 2009 Driver of the Year award.

The Brazilian driver received 119 points for bouncing back from a legal battle to win his third Indianapolis 500. Stewart, the Sprint Cup points leader, received 116. It was the closest margin in the voting by a national panel of auto racing writers and broadcasters since Stewart lost the overall award to CART's Cristiano da Matta in a tiebreaker in 2002.

Castroneves, who drives for Penske Racing, was acquitted in April of federal tax-evasion charges that could have sent him to jail for up to six years. He missed the first race of the IndyCar season, but won at Indy in May and backed that up with a victory at Texas Motor Speedway in the quarter that ended on June 21.

"I'm really honored with the prestige to be included in such an incredible group of drivers," Castroneves said after being told he beat Stewart, the 2005 Driver of the Year, and third-place Mark Martin, another NASCAR star, who had 42 points. "Honestly, it's an honor to be in an amazing group."

NASCAR's Kyle Busch also received one first-place ballot as one of 19 drivers who scored points in the second-quarter voting.

Cup star Jeff Gordon won first-quarter honors.

FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Taylor Earnhardt, the 20-year-old daughter of the late Dale Earnhardt, will be at the wheel of her father's famed No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet for a demonstration run during this week's Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

She will be accompanied by her mother, Teresa Earnhardt, president and CEO of Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company she and her husband founded in 1980.

The car, owned by Richard Childress Racing, is the one in which the seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion got his 76th and final victory at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2000. It has been on display at the RCR Museum since its grand opening in May 2003.

"I was honored to be asked by Lord March to have one of the legendary RCR black No. 3 Chevrolets participate in this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed," Childress said. "This is a great opportunity to promote the legacy of Dale Earnhardt, not only in the United States but throughout the world. I also think it's great that Taylor will have the opportunity to drive the car her father made so famous."

The event has been held annually since 1993 at the Goodwood House in West Sussex. Race cars old and new participate in both demonstration and competition runs up the nine-turn, 1.16-mile hillclimb circuit. This year's gathering will include a number of stock cars in honor of the 50th anniversary of Daytona International Speedway.

FEEDING AMERICA

The NASCAR Foundation has joined forces with Feeding America for a summer-long food drive aiming to provide 350,000 meals to American children and their families.

In partnership with Feeding America, the foundation has created several opportunities for NASCAR fans to join these efforts, including a track walk at Chicagoland Speedway and an online virtual food drive conducted throughout the summer Sprint Cup schedule.

About 17.9 million low-income children received free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program last year, but just 2 million of those children participated in the Summer Food Service Program that provides food to children during the summer months when school is out. As a result, the need at local food banks during these months increases.

The online virtual food drive begins this week and runs through Aug. 31. Fans can visit www.nascar.com/foundation to create a virtual food drive and set goals for number of meals raised.

The NASCAR Foundation Track Walk will also give fans the opportunity to walk a lap around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval before the Lifelock.com 400 on July 11.