NASCAR has cleared driver Ron Hornaday Jr. of any wrongdoing following his revelation earlier this week that he used testosterone.
“It’s over and done with,” NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said Saturday. “He’s cleared to race. We don’t see where Ron did anything wrong.”
Hunter said that NASCAR reviewed Harvick’s case and, given the facts as they are known, concluded that Hornaday neither obtained a competitive advantage nor put other drivers at risk by his use of testosterone to combat what was eventually diagnosed as a hyperactive thyroid.
Our substance abuse experts have told us the prescription Ron Hornaday used did not enhance his performance or impair his judgment. It is our understanding Ron had a very serious health issue, which is continuing to be addressed.”
“I don’t take aspirin,” he said. “I love my beer, but I don’t drink beer the night before a race and I don’t drink on the race track. You guys know I have nothing ever to hide.”
Under NASCAR’s current drug policy, testosterone is not listed by name under banned substances, Hunter said, and even when the stricter policy is released, Hunter doesn’t think it will be addressed because there are too many instances in which a doctor could legally prescribe a steroid.
NASCAR chairman Brian France recently said the sanctioning body will “expand the scope” of its current drug policy and it should involve more testing. The current policy allows for testing when there is a “reasonable suspicion” someone is using banned substances.
Hunter said that NASCAR, which does not have random drug testing, is going to unveil a new substance-abuse policy within a few weeks.
He said the new policy, “doesn’t necessarily make a substance illegal. There are certain conditions where testosterone might be prescribed so I would hesitate to say a substance is totally banned. There are certain substances which are banned. Until we announce our new policy, I don’t think I want to just lay a blanket over certain substances.”
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