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Amid all of the hub bub from last week’s Media Tour, it was announced that NASCAR was adding the drug policy to it’s rule book for each series.  The 2009 season was the first for a hard and fast policy against substance abuse for NASCAR, and needless to say, it didn’t go so well.  An actual written policy or list of banned substances was never really published, so the news that NASCAR is finally putting one out is certainly a step in the right direction.

Since we started this site in April 2008, we’ve written about drugs and testing no less then seven times (and that doesn’t count the majority of the Mayfield posts).  You can see those old posts by browsing around this link.  One of those posts I wrote in May of last year addressed this issue specifically.  In it, I wrote:

As a NASCAR licensee and hard card holder, I’ve suddenly realized that my career could be in serious jeopardy because I don’t know what I can and can’t use.  I’m not a doctor, and I’m not up on what is against the rules and what isn’t.  I’m certainly not using any performance enhancers, and I don’t use recreational drugs, but this really scares me. 

Now, that the official policy has been put out there, I feel a ton better about the testing program.

I’ve actually seen the full version of the policy and while I won’t recreate it here (not sure if it’s allowed) I will tell you that the text covers prohibited substances, medications, alcohol, supplements, testing, disciplinary action, and self-reporting among other things.  The policy applies to drivers, crew members, and officials.

While I can’t pronounce most of the substances listed (see dehydryochlormethyltestosterone), it’s comforting to know that we at least have something we can refer to in the event we have a question about a substance or the testing procedure.  NASCAR cannot claim to have an effective policy without having a list of banned substances and a published version of the policy for all to see.

Now that we’ve gotten a list though, I still think NASCAR should take more from the other sports leagues’ policies and implement things like a drug hotline.  I’ve heard that the drivers can call the infamous Dr. David Black with questions about the policy, but there needs to be a liaison for the crew members as well.  They need to give us every opportunity to make sure we are doing things right and not putting substances into our bodies that may cause us to test positive.

After a rough rookie campaign for the drug policy, we certainly have to give NASCAR credit for continuing to improve on it.  The nature of substance abuse is constantly changing, and NASCAR needs to be diligent in making sure their policy changes with it.  They now have a solid base to work from, but more improvements are still needed.

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We must be doing a very good job answering your racing related questions, because this week we have a very short edition of ATIW.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Joe:

What happened to cause Bill Weber to lose his job announcing?

Sorry, but outside of what was reported and talked about online, we can’t really add any other details.  Whatever it was though, it must have been pretty bad. – T.C.

2. From Allen:

2 short questions: How can someone get a NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or even a Truck Series Rules Book?  And what’s the difference between a Crew Chief and a Car Chief?

 The only way to get a rule book is to obtain a NASCAR license.  All crew members and accredited members of the press are issued one.  And every once in a while you may see one go up for sale on eBay, but that’s really about it.  As for crew chiefs and car chiefs, think of the crew chief as the team’s manager and the car chief as the head mechanic.  The crew chief calls the race and works with the driver on the setup.  Car chiefs then take the info from the crew chief about the setup and make it happen. – T.C.

3. From Ric:

Heard a few years ago that some cars use vinyl wrap for the aero advantage, but don’t like the extra weight (couple hundred pounds pops to mind). About what percentage of cars use paint versus vinyl wrap? Does it vary more from track to track, or organization to organization? Who makes the decision on which method to use? Are there other methods?

Every car you see on track has at least some vinyl decals on it.  The norm is for the paint scheme to be a mix of paint and vinyl graphics.  Very few cars are actually completely wrapped, from nose to tail, on any given weekend.  In many cases, full wraps happen when a sponsor deal comes together late and there is no time to paint a car. – T.C.

4. From Ric:

Are teams allowed to have more than one spotter, or an assistant? Seems like the spotter keeps pretty busy keeping track of his driver, grooves other drivers are driving, listening to NASCAR Track Officials, talking to other spotters, keeping track of what the other 42 cars are doing in the pits, etc. Is there anything else they do?

No, I think you just about covered it.  Teams will have extra spotters at tracks that have limited visibility like the road courses and Indianapolis, but not usually anywhere else. – T.C.

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!