Spencer Gallagher Suspended Indefinitely after Substance Abuse Policy Violation

Talladega winner Spencer Gallagher has been suspended indefinitely per NASCAR after violating Section 19 (Substance Abuse Policy) of the NASCAR Rule Book. Per NASCAR's release, Gallagher was found to violate the policy on May 1st, 2018. Gallagher has agreed to participate in the Road to Recovery Program which is required to become eligible to compete again.

Following the announcement from NASCAR, Gallagher released a statement: “I recently have had a positive result in a NASCAR drug screen, which has violated NASCAR’s substance abuse policy. I want to assure everyone in the NASCAR community this one-time error in judgment will never happen again. I am taking the steps to enroll in the Road to Recovery program supported by NASCAR. I would like to say that I am sorry to all of the GMS organization for my actions, especially my team and team owner, who have worked so hard this year and have put faith in me. I also want to apologize to NASCAR, Chevrolet and my fans for letting them down. I have not upheld the behavior that is expected of me. I promise you all here and now, I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”

On Saturday, Gallagher pulled off GMS Racing's first XFINITY Series victory. Since Gallagher will not qualify for all 33 events on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule, Gallagher will not be able to compete in the playoffs at the end of the 2018 season as NASCAR will not grant him a waiver.

Mike Beam, GMS Racing President, issued this as part of the team statement.: “GMS fully supports NASCAR’s policy on substance abuse and we do not condone this type of behavior. First and foremost, our entire organization wants to apologize to NASCAR, our sponsors, teammates, and fans due to this policy violation. … A substitute driver will be announced at a later date.”

As noted in the team release, a substitute driver will be announced at a later date. Spencer Gallagher did qualify for the Dash4Cash this weekend at Dover but being as he will not be competing, Ryan Sieg will compete for the $100,000 bonus after finishing sixth last weekend at Talladega.

AJ Allmendinger was the last driver to complete the Road to Recovery following his substance abuse policy violation in 2012. Allmendinger was suspended at Daytona on July 8th, 2012 and was reinstated on September 17th, 2012. The timetable for Gallagher's return is unknown. Stay tuned to The Motorsports News Source for the latest from GMS Racing about this situation. (Koelle,2018)

Photo Credit - Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images