Don't Just Sit There, Do Something AboutIt!

by 4ever3 on Apr 26, 2008 12:01 AM EDT Comment 6 comments

And that is just what Kevin Harvick did.

In the absence of any solid drug testing by NASCAR, and given the recent Aaron Fike admission, Kevin Harvick took it upon himself to at least do something that was within his limits to police drug use in NASCAR.

Like NASCAR, Harvick's own race team, Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) really had no testing policy of its own, until now. KHI’s Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series drivers and crew chiefs have been tested, and an independent testing company has been hired to test the rest of the company.

"I’m proud that we went home (after Phoenix) and made ours right," Harvick said. "We’re considered a drug-free environment at KHI. … Hopefully everyone will follow suit, and I think it would be good for our garage."

Kevin also went on to say that he wished that every team in NASCAR would do the same and that NASCAR could introduce required drug testing for every yearly garage pass (hard card) it hands out.

"Have an outside source come in and randomly drug test the teams as they submit their approvals for a hard card. You send your drug test [paperwork] with it, and that would make it a lot easier on NASCAR."

In other words, "You want in the garage area? Then pee in a cup please. Thank you."

But Harvick didn't stop there, he also suggested one other thing. Something that I've always thought should be done, but has never been done.

"If you wreck or something and you have to go through the infield care center, it should be just standard procedure to take a drug test even if you've been through there 10 times in 10 weeks," Harvick said. "I think that would fix a lot of the questions that we have and be a pretty simple solution."

I'm all for it.

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I agree that every driver that is in an accident should be tested for drugs or illicit substances, in fact that should be part of any "reasonable cause" scenario, anyway.
Good for Havick and for GEM, which has an unpublicized random testing program due to sponsorship requirements in their contracts with Budweiser and Allstate.
The only way such a policy will be put in place is if the teams do it themselves.
I still don't think we will see headlines about every driver who passes a drug test.

by RevJim on Apr 26, 2008 6:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Three cheers for Harvick, both Kevin and Delana. There's more balls between those two than the entire office complex's in Daytona and Charlotte combined.

Call me a cynic, and I most definitely am, but something tells me this is exactly what NASCAR wants.

If all the teams do the same thing NASCAR will sit back, reap the benefits of an improved system AND have the audacity to promote how improved it is all the while taking zero responsibility themselves.

Sounds like the whole thing about NASCAR starting it's own traveling safety/medical team doesn't it?

NOTE to Rev Jim, why on Earth should anyone know if a driver successfully passes a test?

Weren't you the one whining about any program because of privacy and some alleged "stigma" attached to all the drivers whether guilty or not?

Why yes, you were.

by marc on Apr 26, 2008 6:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Marc, if only you could read half as well as you can write, you would have seen that I thought it would be a better program if the teams took responsibility themselves, and to use substitute drivers rather than allow drivers to get in the car while on cold or flu medication, as well.
The "headline" comment was out of my own cynicism toward the press. The paranoid sheep will want to know that such programs are in place, and since they won't find that out because of test failures--there won't be any--I sarcastically meant to suggest they would want to hear about the drivers who passed. Now they can move on to the next Big Conspiracy Theory.
Hey Marc, love ya man.

by RevJim on Apr 27, 2008 1:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I read just fine my friend, and what I most definitely read was some unsubstantiated theory espoused by you that a testing program, by anyone, would create an atmosphere within NASCAR on the part of the innocent because they not longer felt trusted. Or some such tripe.

Not to mention not having clue #1 on the affects of and stages of drug addition.

by marc on Apr 27, 2008 3:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No, it wasn't a theory, it was opinion, and it was substantiated only by my own personal experience with others. I never claimed to be an expert on anything, and sometimes I write more with my heart than with my head.
You presented a differing opinion that perhaps has a more scholarly basis. I accept your opinion, and I think it is silly to do battle over differing opinions.
Especially since I have no exit strategy.

by RevJim on Apr 27, 2008 3:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs