[Lefty Noob]

Hmiel, the son of longtime crew chief and team official Steve Hmiel, has been suspended for life from NASCAR for failing a third substance abuse test. The 26-year-old first tested positive back in 2003 and again last June. He had been working towards a return in 2007. In 7 career races, Hmiel had three finishes and won a total of $470,733 in earnings.

[LSC9901]

Why, when it comes to stories like this, do we even bother to focus on them? It is a personal tragedy for all those involved and here we are on some cyberspace website bothering to talk about it. No where on this site have I seen anything written about the Victory Junction Gang. Why not focus on the small positive ventures that the many do instead of the large personal misadventures that no one is happy to read or better yet no one is happy to have to live through.

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Hmiel, the son of longtime crew chief and team official Steve Hmiel, has been suspended for life from NASCAR for failing a third substance abuse test. The 26-year-old first tested positive back in 2003 and again last June. He had been working towards a return in 2007. In 7 career races, Hmiel had three finishes and won a total of $470,733 in earnings.

[Lefty Noob]

That's a great question, LSC, and not one that's easy to answer. Its really a bigger problem of the mass media. I posted this because I saw the headline on a sports site and thought it would be of interest to NASCAR fans. But you're absolutely right -- its a shame that so much of the focus here and everywhere is on the negative things.

The Victory Junction Gang, for those who don't know, is a non-profit organization founded by Paul Newman and Kyle and Pattie Petty that has ties to NASCAR. According to their website, "The Victory Junction Gang Camp enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment... We serve children ages 7-15 with the following diseases and conditions: arthritis, asthma, burn survivors, cancer, epilepsy, gastrointestinal disease, heart disease, hemophilia, immunology deficiencies/HIV, kidney disease, liver disease, neurological disease, sickle cell disease, skin disease, and spina bifida."

You can find out more about this wonderful charity by visiting their website at:
http://www.victoryjunction.org/vj/index/home

[rave20]

It is a story worth talking about. First Shane is a person with a problem obviously and it's sad to see talent and potential let alone, a life thrown away on something as stupid as drugs. That needs to be talked about and people need to see how substances can destroy lives.

Second, you have here a sports organization actually taking a stand on drugs for a change! Isn't that something even congress is trying to get the other leagues to do? Nascar may have wrist slapped some teams at Daytona but kuddos to them on this one!

I know nothing of Shane but here's hoping he can get his problems straightened out.