While most NASCAR fans and drivers are okay with the idea of a comprehensive random drug testing policy, my personal opinion has been that if there is no problem with the current policy, then there is no need to change it. I felt that the concern raised over Aaron Fike’s admission that he was racing in the Truck Series while under the influence of heroin was over-blown. After all, Fike is no longer allowed to race in NASCAR, and he hasn’t even applied for the reinstatement program, so we can safely assume he never will again.

In a sport like NASCAR, it is important that the participants have full use of their facilities, so I am not against drug testing per se. What I am against is the perception that, because one driver managed to slip through the system that there is something seriously wrong with the system.

But even though Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick have claimed that they have never been tested by NASCAR, how do we know that they weren’t tested by track medical personal after being taken to the infield care center, after an on-track accident? Probable cause policy would dictate that this would be a mandatory practice, so we naturally assume they were. The reason our perception tells us they weren’t is only because there were no headlines such as “McDowell tests negative for drugs after dramatic crash.”

In an article by the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Utter, published on That’s Racin’.com, Jim Hunter addresses the effect of public perception when it comes to drug policy:

“There is a sensitivity with us that when you test and you tell people you are testing, it gives people the perception that there’s a problem that may not be there. We don’t like that.”

According to the article, “A NASCAR study group is considering several options for NASCAR’s policy, including adding an element of random testing.”

My personal opinion on the matter has changed, and I feel it is necessary for there to be a comprehensive testing policy, but that it would be better implemented by the teams, as has been done by Kevin Harvick Incorporated, and Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, as that would be the most efficient way of doing so.

Either way, there will be a change in the way testing is perceived by the public.

Hunter said, NASCAR will adopt an element of random testing to its current policy if the study group recommends such a change be made.

Any change to incorporate random drug testing would likely not take effect until the 2009 season. Regardless of the outcome of the study group, Hunter said NASCAR would find ways to enhance its current policy.

“We’ve got to put away any doubt that there is anyone participating who is using a banned substance,” Hunter said.

I still heavily doubt that there is a drug problem in NASCAR, at least at the Cup level. Those drivers would not be where they are, if they had, at any point in their career used drugs while participating in motorsports. But any change in NASCAR’s policy, will not, I feel, change the general perception that there is something wrong. Even after all the teams follow suit to KHI and GEM, or even if NASCAR adopts the policy at all the tracks it uses, people will still be claiming coverup when years go by without a driver being banned. – revinjim