Instead of talking about Jeff Burton's pursuit of his first Cup championship or the first Saturday night race of the year, heroin and drug testing are the hot topics before the race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Aaron Fike, a NASCAR driver serving a prison sentence for drug possession, admitted last week that he was on heroin during races.
That admission did not sit well with some drivers. Kevin Harvick was one of the more vocal ones, and one of the most concerned. Fike drove for Harvick, who has NASCAR teams at the Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series levels.
“I had a long conversation with NASCAR the last time we had this policy brought up in the end of the year last year and it almost seems like it went on deaf ears," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Riachrd Childress Racing. "I’m disappointed with the fact that we’re in a case where we have to have a reaction instead of being proactive about the situation. So that part I’m disappointed with that we have to answer these questions again and we haven’t made any headway whatsoever on the drug testing policy. In the 10 years that I’ve raced, I’ve never been drug tested. So to me that is not a proper professional sports drug policy and as I went up and talked to them about it. They were more mad that I had a reaction to the situation than they were as far as trying to move forward. To me, it was just kind of one of those meetings where they were content to listen to what I had to say and that was about it. My name is not Jeff Gordon.”
Harvick echoed the sentiment of a number of drivers who were in favor of more drug testing. But drug testing is not the issue here. Sure, more drug testing might reveal an abuser or addict in the garage. But here is where NASCAR is very different than other sports. Athletes in other sports who abuse drugs ultimately only hurt themselves. They might damage the image of their teams, but images can be repaired. Reputations can be mended.
However, in the case of NASCAR, a driver racing under the infuence is a danger to the other drivers in a race. The results could be catastrophic. Driving at 65 mph next to someone who is drunk can end tragically. Imagine what could happen in a race with cars going 200 mph.
The drivers have legitimate reasons to be angry and the right to know that every driver in a race is clean. That Fike even got behind a wheel while strung out on heroin is frightening. He should probably face attempted murder charges for making such a foolish admission.
Harvick was asked if he was angry that he had been in a NASCAR race with Fike.
“I have been in a race with him and I know for a fact that he’s not the only one," Harvick said. "There’s another driver that is suspended that I can almost guarantee you was in a race car while he was under the influence and that pisses me off. That is not fair to the 95 percent of this garage and that’s the bad part about it is 95 percent of this garage I can guarantee you is clean, but there’s a five percent chance - it’s just like the safety thing back in 2001 the reason that we reacted to it, we weren’t proactive until that situation happened.
"There’s no reason not to be proactive in the state of the world of sports, there’s no reason not to be proactive in the drug situation and that to me is irresponsible more than it is anything. I’m sure I’ll be blasted from somebody for saying what I feel but I don’t want to be on the race track with people like that."
No one does.