Tyler Walker trying to revive racing career
The 28-year-old Californian is attempting to revive a career that was sidelined in May when NASCAR suspended him indefinitely after he failed a drug test following qualifying for a Craftsman Truck Series event at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.
He says he's been drug-free and sober for more than 10 months now.
Had the governing body had a more stringent drug-testing program when he began driving trucks in 2003, Walker says he likely would have cleaned up his act a long time ago out of fear of being caught. For sure," he said. "I would love to see a stricter policy. I'd like to see everybody getting tested so there's no ifs, ands or buts. Let's clear the table and make sure everybody is on the same page, and that way it will prevent others from making the mistakes I did."
NASCAR tests on reasonable suspicion, which means an official, another driver or crew member sees or hears something to indicate there could be a problem.
Walker would like to see mandatory testing as done in other major sports such as the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.
"Every three or four months for everybody," he said. "You watch all of these TV shows now, these celebrities you would never have thought, they have drug addictions.
"I would love as much time and energy to be spent on it as possible because drugs and alcohol affect even more than just NASCAR's life. It affects everybody's life. It's horrible to see what it does to people's families and lives and relationships. It's sad." ESPN.com