Shane Hmiel's

[dalejrfan]

DOVER, Del. -- Shane Hmiel's smiling face still graces the side of the Braun Racing hauler at Dover, and it's just as well.

Even though Hmiel is barred from the track, he's still the talk of the garage.

Hmiel, who came into Dover 14th in Busch Series points, was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR after he failed a drug test last week in Charlotte.

ALSO
NASCAR on Thursday suspended driver Shane Hmiel indefinitely for violation of the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy.

Hmiel was also suspended in September 2003, but he made his return to NASCAR just five months later.

At the time of Hmiel's first suspension, he was in the middle of an outstanding streak, having scored top-10 finishes in four of last five starts.

He never approached that level of consistency in a 10-start Busch stint in 2004, although he had one win while driving a full Craftsman Truck Series schedule.

Busch Series competitors expressed disappointment at Hmiel's latest infraction, which disrupts a season in which he wrecked often a lot of cars but also scored three top-fives.

"It's a shame because the guy has a lot of talent," said Ashton Lewis, who has raced with Hmiel in each of the last four years. "I think he can be very successful in this sport given his talent, he's just got to get some issues worked out."

Mark Martin, who has made nine Busch starts in the last two years, was surprised at Hmiel's most recent suspension. Hmiel's father, Steve Hmiel, was Martin's long-time crew chief with Roush Racing.

"I am shocked, I can't believe it," said Martin. "I am a huge Shane Hmiel fan. I looked forward to having him mature as a driver. This is obviously a major setback."

ALSO
Ryan Newman on NASCAR and drug testing:

Should there be mandatory testing?

Yes, anything as far as performance enhancing drugs, good or bad. Alcohol is obviously bad. Some steroids are out there that are potentially good. That's my point. It should be tested because we're professional athletes.


Does Shane Hmiel deserve another chance?

In my opinion, no. Does the court system work like that? No. Plenty of people are out there that are multiple offenders and are still carrying on doing what they're doing and leading a normal life. I don't think that's fair, but that's my opinion. I don't know how it's being done now, if every athlete is being tested in basketball, NFL and I guess you can't talk about hockey anymore, I don't know how they're doing it. I'm not saying that's the right way, but if you're going to find out, you should test everybody. We only have 150 drivers at the most. It's not like the NFL where you've got 30 teams of 60.

You wouldn't mind being tested?

As long as the testing process doesn't have a negative effect on me then there's no reason why I would object to it. I'll take the loss of time to know I'm not racing against somebody that's potentially going to have a negative effect on my career.


Added Martin's fellow Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle: "I was shocked, surprised. I really respect his dad, he worked for our company a long time, but I really don't know any of the details. I was as shocked as everyone was that there was another problem."

Question of drug testing

Busch Series veteran David Stremme says NASCAR has never tested him for drugs, but he welcomes open testing, as do Lewis and Martin.

Lewis is 33 years old. Stremme is 27. Martin is 46. Despite the generation gaps between the three, all of them agree that testing is needed -- and should probably be expanded.

"I used to work at a municipality and I got tested all the time," Stremme said. "Even when I ran ASA, my owner tested me.

"You've got 42 other people's lives [in your hands] on the track."

"As the sport grows, you have got to do that [drug testing]," Lewis said. "[You've got to] hold yourself to a higher standard."

"I don't have any problem with drug testing of any kind," Martin said. "Obviously you're speaking to an old-school driver who can't imagine a professional NASCAR driver having any problem with that."

Martin: 'People make mistakes'

Martin thinks that Hmiel will eventually by given another chance at resuming his once-promising career.

"People make mistakes, but it wouldn't be inconceivable to me that someone can make a mistake twice," he said.

Other drivers who have tested positive under NASCAR guidelines include Tim Richmond, Kevin Grubb, Brian Rose and Sammy Potashnick.