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Prepared Witness Testimony The House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Issues Relating to Ephedra-containing Dietary Supplements.
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Mr. Mike Helton
Chairman Stearns and Chairman Greenwood, Ranking members Schakowsky and Deutsch, subcommittee members, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today on this important issue. My testimony will cover NASCAR's continuing commitment to safety as impacted by the recent focus on the use of ephedra/ephedrine by athletes. I will provide information on the actions NASCAR has taken since the increase earlier this year in everyone's awareness of the dangers regarding the use of ephedra-containing or ephedrine-containing products, NASCAR's efforts to make its competitors and officials aware of the recent developments in this area, and our continuing commitment to monitor scientific and regulatory developments regarding the use of ephedra/ephedrine. First, however, let me provide some background on NASCAR, because our structure is unique among the major sports, and NASCAR's approach to substance abuse issues is tailored to that structure. William H.G. France founded NASCAR in 1948 to organize and promote stock-car racing. NASCAR, a private company, continues to be owned and operated by the France family, primarily from its headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. William C. France is the chairman of NASCAR. I am the president of NASCAR and report directly to Mr. France. I have served in this role since November 2000. Prior to that I was senior vice president and chief operating officer for NASCAR. Throughout most of my career with NASCAR, I have been directly involved in the supervision of NASCAR racing competition and competitors. NASCAR is a sanctioning body for stock car racing. Our role is to sanction official NASCAR races, establish and enforce rules for those races, monitor the distribution of prize monies, and maintain a points system designed to determine annual championships in our various divisions. NASCAR sanctions over 1,750 races annually in 12 different divisions, in 37 states. NASCAR-sanctioned racing runs the gamut, from weekly racing at small dirt tracks to regional touring series, to our three top-tier series. NASCAR's three highest-level series are national in scope. They are the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (which next year will become the NASCAR Nextel Series), the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Our drivers and their crew members are independent contractors, which makes NASCAR's structure somewhat unique in sports. In order to officiate or compete in a NASCAR-sanctioned event, an individual must apply for a license on an annual basis, and he or she must maintain that license in good standing throughout the year. To do so, all officials and competitors must abide by NASCAR's rules and procedures. When NASCAR makes a change in its rules or policies, all of these individuals are directly affected by it. Our entire industry takes safety seriously. A driver's life depends on his own ability to drive unimpaired and with great skill. His life depends equally if not more on the ability of his co-drivers on the track to do the same thing. No driver, crew member or official wants to compete with another competitor who is not at the top of his game. At each of the races in NASCAR's three top series, as well as in all of our regional touring series, NASCAR officials work side by side with our competitors on a regular basis. All of us arrive at the track by Friday of a race weekend, and for the next three days we share the restricted pit and garage areas, where the competitors prepare for the race while we literally look over their shoulders. Because of the close personal contact throughout the course of each Event, and our competitors' natural dependence on each other's abilities, our officials are in a position that is unique among all sports officials. We are able to observe closely the conduct and condition of our competitors over extended periods of time. We are immediately available to any competitor who has a concern about the health of another competitor. When it comes to driver impairment, there are few if any secrets in the garage and pit area. This has been our environment for decades, and as a result we have a significant degree of confidence that if one of our athletes is or might be impaired as a result of substance abuse, we will observe or hear of it. To emphasize the critical importance of a substance-free sport, in 1988 NASCAR created its Substance Abuse Policy. At this point, each person who competes in NASCAR-sanctioned events must review the Policy, and he must sign an acknowledgement that he has read the Policy. Of course, any use, possession, purchase or sale of illegal drugs is strictly prohibited by the Policy. But NASCAR's Policy goes further. It permits NASCAR to ban any substance, or the use of any substance, even if legal or medically indicated, that may affect adversely the safety and well being of competitors, officials and/or spectators or the performance of competitors or officials at a NASCAR event. As a result, in connection with any urine drug testing, since the inception of its policy NASCAR has screened, and will continue to screen, for ephedrine at standard testing levels (10,000 ng per ml). To date, no test has revealed the presence of ephedrine above that level. The Policy provides for testing under reasonable suspicion, an approach that is well-suited to our sport because of the close and continuing contact between our officials and our competitors that I described above. If anyone violates the Policy, they are subject to random testing thereafter. Fortunately, because our competitors are keenly aware of the dangers of substance abuse, at the highest levels of our sport we have rarely had to invoke the Substance Abuse Policy. As noted above, NASCAR has monitored ephedrine levels in drug tests performed on competitors. As a result of recent events, of course, our focus has been sharpened. What has NASCAR done in 2003 with respect to the ephedrine/ephedra issue? Several things:
Ephedra/ephedrine may be a useful product in many settings. None of us, however, including our sponsors, is interested in seeing it abused or used in an improper manner in NASCAR-sanctioned races. Our Substance Abuse Policy provides NASCAR with the flexibility to react to situations such as this one. Our commitment to safety provides NASCAR with the incentive to minimize the risk of danger from ephedra/ephedrine abuse. NASCAR will continue to monitor developments in this important area through published medical literature and regulatory statements. At some point, it may be appropriate to make our Policy more specific with respect to use of ephedra-containing products. Whatever NASCAR's decision in this regard may be, its first and foremost principle will be the safety and protection of our competitors and our fans.
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