Though the matter of whether Jeremy Mayfield used methamphetamine was one of the biggest topics last year, and based on his drug test taking antics it’s looking more and more like Jeremy may have actually been guilty, one very important issue came out of all that which is more important than Mayfield’s case … the question of what is a banned substance.

Now, as the 2010 season comes to a start, NASCAR is finally ending their pointless arguing on this point and has released a list of banned substances in the 2010 rulebook. NASCAR says that in 2009 it had just provided a list of substances to team owners, and that drew criticism from the Mayfield camp when the legal battle with NASCAR heated up.

Now that the list is out there officially for all to see, all bets are off. If you use the substances listed, you’re in deep doo-doo. This applies to crew members too, as many of them have been busted by the drug rules.

I’m glad this has been done, because I want to write about racing, not court battles with possible meth-using drivers.

Finally, cars on the track
It’s not quite NASCAR time yet, but the Rolex 24-hour sports car race will be this weekend and they will be getting out on the track at Daytona today for their first laps.
Even if it’s not NASCAR, I’m glad to see some drivers out there racing, as it’s been a long, chilly winter without it, and the NFL doesn’t really fill the void for me.

I’m quite curious to see how the NASCAR drivers do in the 24-hour race, including Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Max Papis, A.J. Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Bobby Labonte, Colin Braun, Boris Said, Bill Lester and Dario Franchitti … and may even tune in a bit.

16 hours of the race will be on TV, but I think I’ll just take in a couple to get me ready for the racing season to really kick off next week. I don’t think I could watch 16 hours of anything, even if I wanted to.

Will ACL injury hurt Hamlin?
Denny Hamlin’s love of basketball has put him in a tough spot, as he tore his ACL.

He won’t have surgery until after the season, and says it won’t affect his ability to compete. But I’m willing to bet that is a cover, and Hamlin won’t be as much of a factor as many people thought he would be.

Honestly, I didn’t think he would in the first place, but this seals the deal for me. He’ll be in the Chase, but probably in the bottom half, or in a worst-case scenario the injury could force him to miss the Chase entirely.

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