NASCAR Has No Drug Testing. Fun Ensues.

NASCAR drivers aren't tested for drugs. Grocery store clerks are, bus drivers are, people who work at day cares...but not the guys who along with forty other drivers pile into machines traveling 200 miles an hour on a track surrounded by 100,000 fans.

"In the 10 years that I've raced, I've never been drug-tested," Harvick said. "To me, that's not a proper drug policy for a professional sport. We haven't made any headway whatsoever on the drug-testing policy." Harvick and Stewart were reacting to an ESPN The Magazine story this week in which former driver Aaron Fike said he competed in Craftsman Truck Series races while he was on heroin. "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 was suspended that I can almost guarantee you was in the race car while he was under the influence, and that pisses me off.

NASCAR's response: "We test people when we have a reasonable suspicion." Signs include: aggressive behavior? Driving into walls at 200 miles an hour? Tony Stewart's been drunk on rageahol for years, but is that an illegal drug or a performance-enhancing supplement in NASCAR?

Either way, his bloodstream is coursing with the stuff:

Just to review: baseball, where Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD, has testing. NASCAR, where a perfectly sober person can lose control of a 3400 pound car at any time, effectively has none for its drivers. Long as we're all clear on that point, I'm happy.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.