FanHouse DrugTesting

The National Hot Rod Association has suspended Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Guidera, 39, for one year after ruling he violated drug testing procedure this weekend at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park outside Indianapolis.

The 39-year old didn't test positive for a banned substance, but rather did not follow rules to take the test. He is the first competitor in one of the four professional classes -- Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle -- to be suspended under the 10-year old policy.

Under the NHRA's random drug testing format, once a racer is notified of the test, he/she has 24 hours to show up at a designated independent testing facility set-up on the grounds of that week's racing venue. According to a NHRA news release on Saturday, Guidera "failed to comply with the NHRA's drug testing policy within the required 24-hour time period."

It looks as if we'll soon have some clarity on this sticky issue of who did and who didn't test positive at the NFL scouting combine.

According to a report on ProFootballTalk.com, the NFL's 32 teams will receive a list of the players who tested positive on Monday or Tuesday of this week, giving them a couple of days before the draft to digest the information and determine how it should affect their draft-day decisions.

When the list does come out, and when the names on it are made public, the NFL will finally be through with an ugly part of its offseason.

The NFL and the players' union have announced, just in time for Super Bowl media hype week, that they have agreed to an increased testing regimen for performance-enhancing drugs.

Make no mistake: The timing of this announcement is all about the fact that during the week before the Super Bowl, thousands of journalists are looking for something football-related to write about. And the NFL knew that if it didn't have some kind of announcement, that "something" would be steroids in the NFL, the lack of testing for human growth hormone, and the fact that Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was busted for steroids.

Still, the new policy represents real change: Players suspended for using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs will now forfeit a prorated portion of their signing bonuses, the only guaranteed portion of a player's compensation. Players will now be tested for EPO, and the league will increase the total number of tests to 12,000 a season, up from the current 10,000, meaning the average NFL player will be tested about six times a year.