What do Lindsey Lohan, Alexandre Vinokourov, and Aaron Fike have in common?
Allegations of illegal drug use plagued all three this summer. Lohan apparently failed an alcohol test this morning after she was stopped for chasing another vehicle, and police reports indicate she had cocaine in her pocket at the time.
Vinokourov was a favorite to win the Tour de France until his blood test came back "positive" for a blood transfusion. While this isn't criminal behavior in and of itself, it does violate the rules for the Tour. Vinokourov's team withdrew from competition, but indicated that a crash earlier in the race may have contributed to a false positive. The Tour itself has taken several hits for its drug policy in the wake of the Floyd Landis affair, and the continuing allegations of steriod use in the sport.
Fike was arrested last month at an amusement park and found to be in possession of heroin. His criminal charges have not been resolved, but he was booted immediately from his Craftsman Truck ride.
Fike's arrest provoked a healthy discussion of Nascar's substance abuse policies. To date, Nascar has suspended several drivers since 1998: in addition to Fike, Shane Hmiel (three failed tests with an ultimate lifetime ban), Brian Rose, Kevin Grubb and Tyler Walker were all suspended for illegal drug usage.
Ironically, Walker and Hmiel went and raced in other series - despite the positive results of the Nascar drug tests. Kevin Harvick commented, "I believe every driver in every national series should be drug-tested a couple of times a year randomly, regardless of who you are or what you're doing."
His harshest words were for Nascar, "Shame on Nascar for not policing our garage better than what they police it right now, we're all professional athletes and shoudl be treated like professional athletes in other professional sports, and shame on them for not doing that."
Autoweek commented that since Nascar drivers are are independent contractors, and as such are subject to the whims of Nascar. If Nascar required the stringent testing of the Tour de France bikers, drivers would comply - or not race.
The Indy Racing League imposed a strong drug testing policy. Two drivers are selected randomly every other weekend to be tested. As of Nashville, Brian Barnhart estimated that 80% of drivers had already been tested this season.
One unstated reason why Nascar is leary of getting into the drug testing business is the Tim Richmond debacle. Richmond was a winning driver. His career was taking off, when he "took some time off" in 1987. Richmond claimed he had double pnemonia. But Richmond's hard partying lifestyle led to speculation as to what was causing his tired appearance at the track and his stint at a clinic.
Richmond ran only eight races in 1987, but won two races that season. When he tried to return to Daytona in 1988, Nascar demanded a drug test. Nascar "released" the results, indicating Richmond had tested positive for banned substances. Nascar suspended him indefinitely.
Richmond denied the accusation and requested another test. That test showed Richmond was clean. Nascar was forced to admit that the only substances in Richmond's blood were over the counter medications - Sudafed and Advil, which are not banned by Nascar. But by that time, Nascar knew Richmond's secret - he had AIDS. But Nascar was suspicious that he may have contracted it through a drug needle (versus unprotected sex. Richmond was known for the line of beautiful women he "dated").
Nascar then demanded his medical records, Richmond threatened to sue based on the erroneous test results and bogus suspension, alleging Nascar knew he was clean when it declared him dirty and that the publication of the results was an invasion of his privacy.
But the lawsuit threatened to disclose his medical status to the public, so Richmond withdrew the suit, and never raced again. He died in August, 1989. Nascar never appologized to him.
Nascar learned the perils of suspending a driver, and also learned that disclosing too much information to the public could hurt their pocketbook based on privacy issues. Nascar's response to the Richmond debacle has been once bitten, twice shy.
Nascar defends its policy by claiming they only test with reasonable suspicion that someone is in violation.
The ugly reality: substance abuse is rampant in society. Why think sports or racing in particular is any different? Sticking your head in the sand just gets sand in your eyes.
Tomorrow, my ideas on what changes need to be made in autoracing drug policies.
Information from SI.com, wikipedia, Autoweek, Nascar.com, Ronda Rich.
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