Court lifts Mayfield suspension

Jeremy Mayfield has been allowed to return behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup Series car after getting his suspension for drug abuse lifted by a US court.

Mayfield had been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR after he allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine in a random drug test at Richmond in May, but on Wednesday he got a temporary injunction from a court in Charlotte that enables him to race again.

The 40-year-old will thus attempt to compete in next weekend's event at Daytona, although he admitted it could be a bit late for him to get his team ready for Thursday, when practice takes place for the Coke Zero 400.

"I'm happy I can go back racing and just glad the justice system works like it does and just thank God," said Mayfield. "It might be a little late for this weekend, but we'll see what happens. I'm able to race, that's the main thing. I think so now. I have to go back and see where we stand on that and where they are.

"The main thing is to be able to go back and be able to do that. The truth came out, and now I can go back and say we're clear of all this. I cleared my name, and now we can go racing again. That means more to me than anything."

Mayfield has denied taking methamphetamine, while saying since the very beginning that a combination of prescribed medicine and over-the-counter drugs resulted in a false positive result in the test.

The driver's defense argued in court that NASCAR did not follow the right procedures in testing Mayfield and had experts contesting the sanctioning body's conclusions about the results of his A sample test, which according to them were inconclusive.

In the court filings, judge Graham Mullen said that the financial harm to done to Mayfield preventing him from racing, substantially outweighs the potential harm to NASCAR.

NASCAR officials stood by their arguments while respecting the court ruling. However, they plan to continue to fight Mayfield's case in the courts.

"We are disappointed, but we respect the judge's ruling," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. "This is only a temporary injunction. The legal case continues beyond this point, and we will continue to make our case."

Mayfield started his own team this year and qualified for the season-opener at Daytona back in February.

After that he qualified for four more races, but since being suspended he had been forced to withdraw his team from competition, only attempting one more race with driver JJ Yeley at Charlotte. A number of crew members were also laid off from his team as a consequence.

Burton wants assurances on MayfieldZokora targets Sevilla glory

Burton wants assurances on Mayfield

Jeff Burton wants NASCAR to give him and fellow drivers assurance that Jeremy Mayfield is not under the influence of any drugs whenever he gets back behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car in an official event.

Mayfield was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR in May after he failed a random test for drugs at Richmond, but on Wednesday he got a temporary injunction from a federal court in the US, which allows him to race again.

Burton said on Thursday at Daytona that he does not agree entirely with the judge's ruling, because even if it takes some time to get the results of a test, safety for all concerned should be considered above everything else.

In the court filings, judge Graham Mullen stated among the reasons to allow Mayfield an injunction that the financial harm done to the driver by preventing him from racing, far outweighed the potential harm to NASCAR's event safety.

"One thing that I disagree with the judge on is that my safety is important to me and if there's an instant test available then I think the judge's opinion is 100 per cent right," said Burton.

"But there is no instant test available. At the same time, from Jeremy's perspective, if the judge ruled that [the result of the test] can be questioned then it should be questioned and he should have the ability to look into it. If that's what the court's ruled.

"It's a tough situation for anybody to make that decision because he potentially puts my safety in jeopardy with that decision. The other decision potentially puts Jeremy's career in jeopardy so what do you do? That's almost not a right answer."

Burton says that if and when Mayfield is back in Sprint Cup competition, he would like NASCAR to test him as many times as it deems necessary in order to ensure that he is completely clean when he returns to the racetrack.

"If it takes 72 hours, in my world, in this case and nothing against Jeremy, I consider Jeremy a friend of mine, but 72 hours from him being on the racetrack, if that's how long it takes to get a result [from a drug test] then he should be tested," said Burton.

"And 24 hours after that he should be tested again and 24 hours after that it should be tested again and 24 hours after that it should be tested again. I don't consider that harassment.

"The fact of the matter is that he failed a drug test and that opens the door to question. I deserve to 100 per cent know that he is 100 per cent clean and so he should be tested soon enough, early enough, often enough to where he can never be on the racetrack while he is using drugs."

Mayfield was expected to attempt to race this weekend at Daytona, but the 40-year-old was unable to get a drive for Saturday night's event.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal again

Waltrip happy to hand drive to Truex

Michael Waltrip says he is "happy and proud" to hand his drive to Martin Truex Jr as he announced that he is set to retire from full-time racing in the Sprint Cup Series at the end of the season.

Although he still plans to compete in a limited number of events in 2010, starting with next year's Daytona 500, this season is set to be his last full-time effort in NASCAR as a driver as he shifts his focus to his team's management.

Over his 25 years driving in the Sprint Cup Series, Waltrip has achieved four victories—all of them in restrictor plate tracks - including two Daytona 500 wins in 2001 and 2003 while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Before the season started Waltrip had already hinted at his decision of stepping down from his driving role and he believes to be doing so at the right time. He says he is confident that Truex is the right driver to take his team to the next level.

"I'm turning my car over to a guy that I think can go win the championship in it," said Waltrip. "I've always said, I've been racing this cars for a long time as we all well know. If I thought I wasn't the best man for the job I wouldn't have had to ride this long.

"If I wasn't the best guy that could run in the car and go racing on Sunday, someone else would take my place. I just believe at this time in my career that Martin is the right guy to take over my car and go win races in it.

"I didn't have to quit, I didn't need to quit. I just wanted to do this for... to me it's always been about the sponsors and Napa is the greatest sponsor I could ever have and I thought this was an opportunity to put then on Victory Lane on a regular basis."

This year, in only the third season for Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR's top series, David Reutimann gave Waltrip his first win as an owner in a rain-shortened 600-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Waltrip says after that victory he feels he can continue to get as much satisfaction out his team's success as he has done from his wins behind the wheel.

"I was genuinely more happy when David [Reutimann] won that race in Charlotte than I've been in a long time in my career," said Waltrip. "That was just confirmation that I had made the right decision. That I could get a lot of joy out of helping mould and shape MWR."

It is yet to be determined how many events Waltrip will race next year but he says he plans a "very limited" schedule, while his intention is to continue to run a three-car full-time effort in 2010 with Truex, Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose ran in association with JTG Daugherty.

Dudek wants Alonso reunionTruex and EGR team penalised

Truex and EGR team penalised

Martin Truex Jr and his team have been penalised after their car failed the post-race inspection at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend.

Truex had finished the race 16th but his car was found to be higher than the NASCAR rulebook allows for the right-rear quarter panel.

As a consequence, Martin was docked 25 points in the drivers' standings, car owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked the same ammount in the owner standings, while crew chief Kavin Manion was fined US$25,000 and place on probation until the end of the year.

Manion said Earnhardt Ganassi Racing doesn't plan to appeal the penalties imposed.

"We completely understand NASCAR's position on the rule violation and will not appeal the penalty imposed," Manion said. "In addition, we are taking steps internally to ensure this will not happen in the future."

The points penalty doesn't affect the driver's ranking in the standings where he sits in 24th place.

Villeneuve to race at Montreal againZokora targets Sevilla glory

Villeneuve to race at Montreal again

Jacques Villenueve will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series next month to compete in Montreal's round of the series for the second year in a row.

The former Formula 1 world champion will return to NASCAR's second-tier series for a one-off appearance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he is set to drive the #32 Braun Racing Toyota Camry.

Villeneuve last competed in NASCAR in last year's rain-affected event at his home track, where he was classified 16th. He started fifth and actually led the race for a lap before crashing into the back of another car due to the poor conditions, shortly before the race was stopped.

"I am very happy to return to the track this year in Montreal with Braun Racing," said Villeneuve. "I enjoyed greatly my experience last year and their trust is greatly appreciated. It is also a team that prepares great cars. I am confident the #32 will be at least as good as the car the team prepared for me last, which is exciting.

"But what makes me even more happy is the fact that this time around, I'm part of the equation from a much earlier stage. Together we will be able to better prepare for the end of August race and it should have a good influence on our results."

The Quebecoise, who recently admitted his interest in returning to F1, competed last weekend in the Canadian Tire stock car series at a 0.4-mile oval at Saint-Eustache, where he crashed out of the event on the first lap.

Besides his commitments in Canada, Villeneuve is also set to return to the Argentinean Top Race V6 Series, where he will race next weekend at Interlagos. He is also scheduled to compete again in September at Buenos Aires, where he made his first outing in the series last year.

Dudek wants Alonso reunionBusch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Busch: Stewart caused Daytona crash

Kyle Busch is still unhappy about the incident between him and Tony Stewart at Daytona last weekend, saying the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion "dumped" him out of the lead on the final lap.

Earlier this week Stewart spoke to Busch on the phone about the incident and the current points' leader said at Indianapolis during a press conference that both of them were "on the same page" about what had happened on that final lap last Saturday.

However, speaking on Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway, Busch did not seem to be at ease with the situation yet.

"I really don't have feelings, it really didn't mean a whole lot," Busch replied when asked about how felt about Stewart calling him to clear things up. "I thank him for I guess, checking on me to see if I was alive."

Busch agreed with Stewart's explanation of the incident, which suggested that the Gibbs driver moved twice to block his former team-mate, making contact the second time as the nose of Stewart's car was already on the outside of Busch's Toyota, ultimately igniting the wreck.

But despite that, Busch pointed out that before the incident, Stewart had hit him while driving out of Turn 4, unsettling his car and getting him loose. He suggested NASCAR should act in those cases, and penalise the driver hitting the leader from behind whenever an accident emerges after that.

"I think NASCAR can take a step and look at it and if the second place driver 'dumps' the leader, then black-flag his [butt], he doesn't get the win, you know," Busch said.

"If he's on him from behind and moves him out of the way and there's no wreck then fine, he can win the race. But if you're up alongside the guy and you dump him, then I'd say black-flag him and give the win to the third-placed car."

Busch then reckoned Stewart "dumped" him on that final lap at Daytona.

Meanwhile Stewart avoided controversy, saying he had already cleared the air with Busch on the phone on a 30-minute conversation on Tuesday.

"I talked to Kyle I guess it was on Tuesday that I spoke to him and we had a good conversation with him and that's the conversation I'm going off of," Stewart said. "So that's all I'm going to talk about it."

The Daytona finish was a nearly a carbon copy of the incident that unfolded between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski on the final lap at Talladega earlier this year. Neither time NASCAR has issued any penalties to the drivers involved.

Zokora targets Sevilla glory

Martinsville fans to get October race started

Most of the time, the crowd at NASCAR races waits impatiently for the traditional "Gentlemen, start your engines" announcement that gets things going on track.

This fall at Martinsville Speedway, it will be the fans that get things started at the TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Clay Campbell, president of the Virginia track, and Darren Singer, vice president of marketing for TUMS, said earlier this week that all of the fans who attend the Oct. 25 race will act as Grand Marshal for the event.

"Fans have been our top priority since Martinsville Speedway opened more than 60 years ago," Campbell said. "Fans have always come first with us and what better way to show that than making them all the Grand Marshal."

He said the track and the NASCAR community will recognize the fans throughout the prerace ceremonies.

The Martinsville race will be the sixth of the 10 races that make up NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

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NEW CLASS: There will be a new class of sports cars on track at Watkins Glen International in August.

SCCA Pro Racing and WC Vision have announced the introduction of Touring Car 2 (TC2), which will run as a separate class within SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car races.

The new class is intended to provide a more cost-effective point of entry into the series.

TC2 vehicles will have fewer modifications than the current Touring Cars, including tight limitations on engine and drive-train modifications and the prohibition of non-factory aerodynamic devices such as wings and splitters.

"We recognize that not everyone is in the position to develop a car to the same level as our front-running World Challenge Touring Car teams," said Bob Wildberger, president and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing. "The rules being developed will include a number of cars that can race with World Challenge as soon as Round Five at Watkins Glen next month."

TC2 will retain the same basic premise of Touring Car, a class designed for four-seat automobiles. The overall power-to-weight ratio of the class will be lower than the current World Challenge Touring Car series and, while the cars are expected to have outstanding handling with aftermarket racing shocks, sway bars and springs, they will lack the overall aerodynamic grip created by the devices permitted in Touring Car.

Eligible cars include, but are not limited to, the Acura RSX, BMW 328 and 330 (E36, 46), Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, Honda Civic Si, Lexus IS, Mazda RX-8, MINI Cooper S, Saturn Ion, Scion tC, Subaru Legacy, and Volkswagen GTI and Jetta.