That's how I felt about the drug testing policy going into this season. I felt it was in the best interest of the sport. Jeff Gordon said he doesn't want to be out on the race track with someone impaired. I can certainly understand that but this is where old school meets new school. Back in my day I can promise you I have raced with guys that had pretty serious hangovers. I raced with guys with physical issues, for example, Ernie Irvin racing with only one good eye.

The thing about the drug policy is that it was to be the same for everybody. Everybody got tested on a pretty regular basis. That certainly seemed fair to me. I just hadn't given it much thought that the kind of drug issue we are concerned with these days would make it to the Cup level. Sure, the lower-tiered NASCAR series have had a couple issues, but never Cup.

So yes it did come as a surprise that someone at this level has possibly taken something illegal. That's were I was with Jeremy because I have known him his whole life. It never crossed my mind that he would ever do something like that. We run into each other periodically and he certainly never looked like someone that was being affected by drug use. But I guess as the old saying goes, looks can be deceiving. Look at Aaron Fike from the truck series. He admitted racing while using heroin but no one picked up on it.

[Read the rest of DW's latest column . . . ]