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Tommy Johnson - It's All About Clearing My Name Now
- Thread starter Bobby Bennett
- Start date
NitroChrisUK
Nitro Member
looking forward to hearing the result of this appeal either Monday or Wednesday.. i hope it Goes TJ's Way
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
Narcolepcy....isn't that the thing that makes you fall asleep instantly, with NO warning???
turbo ken
Nitro Member
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
And NHRA gives him a license to go 300 + ???
mike
Nitro Member
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
Not to minimize Tommy's condition ... but no matter how severe your case of narcolepsy is, I doubt that when you are sitting in the cockpit of a fuel car, and they fire up that motor and your adrenaline is popping before/during the run that there is very much danger of falling asleep. I would guess that Tommy's medication is to keep him from falling asleep during the more mundane periods of our lives, like sitting in a restaurant, or waiting for a plane in the terminal, or riding the shuttle to the rental car place, or driving the motor home across I80 in Nebraska, etc, etc.
Terry
Nitro Member
Bullet
Nitro Member
While on the subject of Willie and his narcolepsy, here is a story too cool not to share: Drag Racing Story of the Day - My Ride with the Wild Man, Wild Willie Borsch
Bob
Nitro Member
Oh yes it is! It's about as much of a sedative as I-70 across Kansas!Come on, Chris! I-80 across Nebraska isn't THAT bad!
nitronoise
Nitro Member
Come on, Chris! I-80 across Nebraska isn't THAT bad!
I will take I-80 any day over 70 ,,, many years of hauling swinging beef from Emporia KS to NYC will do that to ya and winter with the ice on 70 ,, i'll take snow anyday - snow equals traction for big trucks , just like racin"
:dirty girl
Nitro Member
Hello ,This is Kevin 'KP' POYNTER ,Tommy Johnson jr. and Tommy Johnson Sr. are very good friends of mine,and very intense racers .I have a great deal of respect for what the Johnson family has contributed to the sport of drag racing, TJ jr. is a very professional and upstanding racer..... for an organization ,of any kind to cast dispersions like this to the public is an out rage . My hope by writing this is to support the Johnson family,and to see Tj clear his good family name ,Tommy Sr,Jr i support you guys
good luck
Kevin KP Poynter
good luck
Kevin KP Poynter
Exactly.
I used to work with a guy who has Narcolepsy. As long as he took his medication regularly, he was fine. If he didn't, he would nod off in mid sentence.
FIA needs to let him back in. And apologize profusely. If he was taking narcotics........which he most certainly wasn't, that would be one thing but the medication he is taking is vital to him functioning normally and does not get him "high".
NitroChrisUK
Nitro Member
any updates ?? last i heard the appeal was pushed back to the 31st .. which was Wednesday...
The Mighty
Nitro Member
The news according to Andersen Racing is that the FIA hearing has suspended TJ from FIA competition for 12 months and I would guess that any points earned while committing the infraction will be lost.
HEMI6point1
Nitro Member
Gordon
Nitro Member
Based on what I've learned about this issue and the resulting suspension - all of which has been from this website - Tommy can rest easy knowing at least one thing for certain... He's not the one who needs to clear his name, FIA needs to clear theirs.
This entire issue seems to be a series of bad decisions on their part, including, but not necessarily limited to;
a) Including the drug in question as a banned substance in the first place, since it's not a narcotic, nor is it performance enhancing in any way.
If their stance was (is) to keep it listed as a banned substance, then,
b) Allowing him to race in the first place since he put it on his license application right from the beginning.
c) Suspending him for 12 months after somebody(s) in their organization dropped the ball and allowed him to race all season.
And people think NHRA has issues... By and large, NHRA puts on a pretty good & fair show when compared to FIA.
This entire issue seems to be a series of bad decisions on their part, including, but not necessarily limited to;
a) Including the drug in question as a banned substance in the first place, since it's not a narcotic, nor is it performance enhancing in any way.
If their stance was (is) to keep it listed as a banned substance, then,
b) Allowing him to race in the first place since he put it on his license application right from the beginning.
c) Suspending him for 12 months after somebody(s) in their organization dropped the ball and allowed him to race all season.
And people think NHRA has issues... By and large, NHRA puts on a pretty good & fair show when compared to FIA.
The Mighty
Nitro Member
Here's where what you have learned is wrong then...
The drug in question, Dexedrine is on the banned list specifically because it can be and is used by some to enhance performance. It is a psychostimulant which has similar properties to racemic methampetamine. The drug is on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list which is the agency which controls drug use across many sporting organisations worldwide including in the US. It just happens that the NHRA is not signed up to their program but the FIA is.
To answer your other points...
b) TJ did not make the FIA aware of his use of the prescription drug until he was tested halfway through the season. I have seen no mention of him claiming he had made them aware. He skipped the FIA medical as his NHRA medical was deemed to be acceptable so while TJ wasn't aware of the rules and should have been. The FIA wasn't aware of the drug use and didn't have any reason to be.
c) No one in the FIA dropped the ball. The ball was dropped when a driver applied for an FIA license without making themselves fully aware of the rules to which he was signing up.
I am not being pro FIA here as I truly believe there is probably a better way of dealing with this situation and I feel incredibly bad for TJ who's correct use of the drug is absolutely not in question, only the way in which he made the governing body aware of it. BUT, you have to understand that the FIA must maintain and apply the rules as they are written to keep their consistency in all cases across all forms of motorsport that they govern. TJ was required to apply for a therapeutic use exemption before he started racing and didn't, the only time the FIA became aware of his use of the drug was halfway though the season when he submitted a drug test and under their rules this is not acceptable.
I agree though that TJ should rest easy. Morally he's done nothing which gives any of us anything to question. His mistake and it may be a big one, and one that led to a very unfortunate set of circumstances, was to not make himself fully aware of the rules he was racing under and how they affected him directly.
The drug in question, Dexedrine is on the banned list specifically because it can be and is used by some to enhance performance. It is a psychostimulant which has similar properties to racemic methampetamine. The drug is on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list which is the agency which controls drug use across many sporting organisations worldwide including in the US. It just happens that the NHRA is not signed up to their program but the FIA is.
To answer your other points...
b) TJ did not make the FIA aware of his use of the prescription drug until he was tested halfway through the season. I have seen no mention of him claiming he had made them aware. He skipped the FIA medical as his NHRA medical was deemed to be acceptable so while TJ wasn't aware of the rules and should have been. The FIA wasn't aware of the drug use and didn't have any reason to be.
c) No one in the FIA dropped the ball. The ball was dropped when a driver applied for an FIA license without making themselves fully aware of the rules to which he was signing up.
I am not being pro FIA here as I truly believe there is probably a better way of dealing with this situation and I feel incredibly bad for TJ who's correct use of the drug is absolutely not in question, only the way in which he made the governing body aware of it. BUT, you have to understand that the FIA must maintain and apply the rules as they are written to keep their consistency in all cases across all forms of motorsport that they govern. TJ was required to apply for a therapeutic use exemption before he started racing and didn't, the only time the FIA became aware of his use of the drug was halfway though the season when he submitted a drug test and under their rules this is not acceptable.
I agree though that TJ should rest easy. Morally he's done nothing which gives any of us anything to question. His mistake and it may be a big one, and one that led to a very unfortunate set of circumstances, was to not make himself fully aware of the rules he was racing under and how they affected him directly.
Last edited:
Gordon
Nitro Member
I just went back and re-read the original thread and I agree, I had some of my facts screwed up. I remembered Tommy had written it on a form that he was on the drug, but didn't recall that it was his test submission form, not his license form. Still, like Alan said in that thread, if it was on the banned list and Tommy admitted to it prior to the test, why wasn't it an automatic failure - it's not like he was hiding it.
Thank you for the clarification - after re-reading it (it's been a while), I have a better understanding of what happened and as you said, it's sad that it happened, but if it's a rule, it's a rule and it shouod be enforced equally for all.
Thank you for the clarification - after re-reading it (it's been a while), I have a better understanding of what happened and as you said, it's sad that it happened, but if it's a rule, it's a rule and it shouod be enforced equally for all.
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