Fellow Chevy driver, Mark Martin also added his feelings.
ON HIS REACTION TO REPORTS THAT AARON FIKE HAD ADMITTED TO BEING ON HEROIN DURING RACES: I’m astounded. Just, wow. I saw that and I guess that just shows you can be naïve, I was naïve. I didn’t think that was ever really a problem or ever would be an issue. I was surprised by that.
WHY DIDN’T YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE AN ISSUE? ‘Cause I’m a race car driver and I would have no desire of driving a race car with any sort of impairment at all. Matter of fact, I need something to enhance myself. I’m not good enough as it is, so I can use some help instead of something to put me backwards.
HOW WOULD YOU REACT TO KNOWING YOU WERE RACING WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS IMPAIRED BY DRUGS, ALCOHOL, OR SOMETHING ELSE? I’ve raced with a lot of guys that weren’t impaired that drove like they were. That’s not all of it. I don’t know, I’ve raced a long, long time and I’ve had a lot of guys on the race track scare me and that I’m pretty sure weren’t under any kind of influence.
DO YOU THINK THERE’S A NEED FOR INCREASED DRUG TESTING? That’s a tough call, that’s a tough question. Maybe, because I was naïve, I would have said no, the system works fine. I think that’s a very isolated incident, but it goes to show it could happen. Whether you put somebody out there on the race track who doesn’t have the experience level and doesn’t have the maturity to do it or you put someone out there that has all of that and is under the influence you know it’s all not good and you need to prevent both sides of it. You need to screen these people closely, especially the newcomers, the young drivers and all, and you also need to be screening them for drugs. That is a big deal. We have a very, very strong sense here in NASCAR of the competitors, what they’re like and what they do and how they live their lives on most occasions. I think that one kind of caught us off guard.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked, too, and here are his answers.
WHAT’S YOUR REACTION AARON FIKE’S ADMISSION THAT HE RACED UNDER THE INFLUENCE? Mine is the same reaction that anyone else would have. It’s unfortunate. It’s obviously not a safe situation for anybody, especially Aaron. I think Aaron did enough in his own admissions to his problems. I don’t know if everyone, all the public, has to know the specifics such as that. In a situation like that, the most common reaction is how appalling it is and how dangerous that is for everybody involved. But the most important thing is Aaron trying to get himself on a right path and that could get lost in the story. The real important thing is just him getting right and staying right and leading the good life away from those sorts of pitfalls and hopefully that’s what’s going to happen.
WHAT ABOUT NASCAR DOING REGULAR RANDOM TESTING? If the public were to ask that question, NASCAR’s reaction would be to start testing people. They’ve always sort of had that style of management, if you will. Once a complaint gets loud enough, they sort of take reaction to it. I wouldn’t have problem with random drug testing if it’s important to the integrity of the sport. That’s what’s important to me and maybe it would be able to help maintain that. We’ve always sort of had it differently than other stick and ball sports because we drive cars. It’s just overall handled differently. People would assume that steroids and things like that wouldn’t be an advantage here and I don’t see how they would but I suspect the only reason a guy would do that in this profession is just physical appearance of his own perception of himself. I don’t think it would be an advantage inside the car. Recreational drugs have always been a fact of life and people always say “you’d be surprised, but I don’t think it’s a problem here.” I don’t know. If NASCAR wants to go in that direction, I guess the second to worst-case scenario is for speculation to run rampant in the media. The worst, obviously, is for that to be happening. If speculation runs rampant in the media, let’s just squash it, fix it, make a statement with testing and whatnot.”
Jimmie Johnson also answered questions.
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO AARON FIKE’S ADMISSION TO RACING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE?
I cannot believe it. That is absurd. I don’t know what this means or where things go from here, but I’m so happy they figured out or found out what was going on and got him off the track. That is absolutely unacceptable.
KEVIN HARVICK SAID THAT IN 10 YEARS HE’S NEVER BEEN TESTED BY NASCAR. HAVE YOU BEEN TESTED? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE POLICY THAT’S IN PLACE?
No, I’ve not been tested by NASCAR. I’m confident that every driver in this garage area is willing and open to whatever NASCAR decides to do or whatever policies are put in place. I see no issues with that from any driver.
MAYBE YOU’VE BEEN ON TRACK WITH A GUY WHO IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR REACTION IF YOU KNEW THAT?
Gosh, I think if anyone really knew, especially other drivers, you’d go straight to NASCAR and try to come out with the information and help them understand what you heard, what you know, what you saw to get that person off the track. There are no exceptions for that on track, period.
This is most likely the tip of the iceberg on drugs in NASCAR and how they are handling the situation. We’ll keep you informed – JC