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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR Chairman Brian France passionately defended the sport's drug policy Friday, two days after a federal judge granted Jeremy Mayfield an injunction to compete in Sprint Cup events for the first time since his suspension in May for a failed drug test.

France raised his voice and was as animated as he has ever been in any meeting with media members.

Earlier this week, Mullen questioned the results of Mayfield's drug test, calling the likelihood of a false positive as "quite substantial" during the proceeding at U.S. District Court in Charlotte.

France said the Substance Abuse Policy provides for due process for someone who tests positive. France also said there is a list of banned substances but NASCAR is not limited to it because series officials are focused on anything that can impair a competitor.

"We remain very comfortable &ellipses; despite the ruling, that our policy is thorough, it's accurate and it's fair," he said.

Yet Judge Graham Mullen questioned one of NASCAR's attorneys during Wednesday's injunction hearing about if there is a limit to the discretion NASCAR has with its policy. As attorney Helen Maher tried to answer the question, Mullen interrupted and said: "That's not a response. If you're answer is none, step up and own it."

Maher said: "It's always up to NASCAR's sole discretion."

France used Friday's media session to explain the lengths NASCAR goes to once there is a positive test. He notes the substance abuse policy has "some built-in flexibilities."

France said positive tests occur "very, very frequently." He said the person is contacted and often is told the dosage of whatever prescription or over-the-counter medicine they are taking needs to be adjusted and they are not penalized.

"Happens all the time," he said.

Mayfield, though, tested positive for methamphetamine. Mayfield's attorneys have challenged some of the testing procedure and Mayfield claims he's never taken the drug.

Another topic has been what drugs NASCAR test competitors and officials for. Mayfield's attorney, Bill Diehl, stated in court Wednesday that "they don't have an identifiable list in policy of what is banned."

NASCAR's attorneys submitted only one document that listed any sort of banned substances. That was a letter dated Dec. 8, 2008, sent to teams that detailed what drugs must be tested for when their crew members were tested before the season. The list includes drugs under classifications of amphetamines, narcotics, barbiturates, among other groups.

France says there is a more exhaustive list.

QUALIFYING: Points leader Tony Stewart was awarded the pole for tonight's Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway, getting the top spot when rain washed out qualifying.

It was Stewart's third pole -- all in rainouts -- in the last five races. He also started up front at Pocono last month and New Hampshire last week.

Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the first three rows.

NATIONWIDE: Clint Bowyer won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway for his first victory of the season.

The defending series champion was the leader when a four-car accident brought out the caution with six laps to go in Friday night's race. That set up a final two-lap overtime sprint, and Bowyer lined up next to Carl Edwards for the double-file restart.

Busch was second, followed by Edwards, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com