The first day of preparations for NASCAR's version of the playoffs, a topic more commonly associated with other sports dominated conversation Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Reigning Craftsman Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr.'s admission this week to ESPN The Magazine that he used a testosterone cream in 2004 for a medical condition prompted a hastily scheduled news conference at which Hornaday was cleared of wrongdoing.
The broader question of whether NASCAR has a problem with performance-enhancing substances generated a range of opinions.
"We haven't really thought of our sport as being a sport where performance-enhancing drugs can play out, but I think what you have to think about is, is there something that's going to help you think clearer?" Jeff Gordon said. "It's not as physical of a sport as it is a mental sport."
Jeff Burton said he could see where a driver using steroids or another performance-enhancing substance could gain a physical advantage, though."
"I think if you're training exceptionally hard and you're a big fitness guy ... that could, in the right situation, be a competitive advantage," he said. "On a hot day, when you're pushed to your max physically, and you're able to stay up in the seat, then potentially it could help."
Carl Edwards, a workout fanatic who has the most athletic physique among drivers, suggested that there is no obvious link between physical prowess and on-track success.
"All you have to do is line up all the drivers and look at our different statures and strengths and sizes, and it has no bearing on how you run on the racetrack," he said.
While the NFL and Major League Baseball conduct mandatory testing for banned substances, NASCAR uses a policy of testing for "reasonable suspicion." A revised policy will be announced within a few weeks, NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said.
Testosterone is not specifically banned under NASCAR's policy and probably won't be listed by name in the revised policy because a doctor might prescribe it for non-performance-enhancing reasons, Hunter said.
Hornaday admitted to ESPN The Magazine that between 2004 and 2006 he received shipments of testosterone and human growth hormone from a Palm Beach anti-aging center that has been linked to drug scandals in other sports. He said the HGH was for his wife, Lindy, which she confirmed with corroborating evidence.
Friday, after meeting with NASCAR officials to discuss the situation, Hornaday explained that he used testosterone for a then-misdiagnosed condition that caused him to lose as much as 38 pounds. Eventually, after an emergency appendectomy, he was diagnosed with Graves' disease and prescribed Synthroid, which replaced a hormone normally produced by the thyroid.
"I don't take aspirin," Hornaday, 50, said Friday, asserting that he did not use the substance for performance gain. "A lot of people know I drink beer. I love my beer, but I don't drink beer the night before a race and I don't drink on the racetrack. I have nothing to hide."
Hunter said NASCAR has accepted Hornaday's explanation and considers the matter closed. He said NASCAR will continue to assess situations like Hornaday's on a case-by-case basis.
Kevin Harvick, Hornaday's team owner in the truck series, defended his driver and longtime friend and suggested the information for the magazine story was obtained from Hornaday deceitfully.
He said that after watching Hornaday continue to deteriorate through the first two races of 2006, he pulled him from the truck. With the help of driver Rick Carelli, Harvick helped Hornaday see doctors at Wake Forest. The Graves' disease diagnosis came shortly thereafter.
"The whole situation is not about driving," Harvick said. "This is about somebody's personal health."
NASCAR's "reasonable suspicion" drug-testing policy came under scrutiny in April when former truck series driver Aaron Fike told ESPN The Magazine that he competed with heroin in his system. Several drivers spoke out in favor of random testing, a step that some team owners, including Harvick, already have taken.
Hunter indicated Friday that most of the revisions in the new policy will address NASCAR's greatest concern: mind-altering drugs or alcohol.
"We have spoken to just about every driver, so we have gotten a tremendous amount of input from them so that we can put a better policy in place for today's world," he said.
