NASCAR officials announced Wednesday morning that driver Spencer Gallagher has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body‘s substance abuse policy.
Gallagher recently won his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega on Saturday afternoon in the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a last lap pass on competitor Tyler Reddick. Later that week, Gallagher violated Section 19 of the 2018 NASCAR rule book, which discusses NASCAR’s zero-tolerance substance abuse policy. According to a press release by NASCAR, Gallagher has been indefinitely suspended from participating in any sanctioned event.
He has agreed to participate in the Road to Recovery Program, a requirement before he is eligible to be cleared to race again.
The Las Vegas native is not the first to be suspended for substance abuse. AJ Allmendinger was one of the more recent stories of failing NASCAR’s random drug test back in 2012. Allmendinger was racing for Penske Racing in the No. 22 Ford in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series at the time. He pled not guilty, but went on to complete NASCAR’s recovery program and was reinstated back into the series. He returned to Penske in the Xfinity Series in 2013, and raced full-time for JTG Daugherty Racing. In 2014, he won his first career race at the Cup level at Watkins Glen.
Gallagher released the following statement shortly after the breaking news. “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 judgement 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 know, I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”
Mike Beam, president of GMS Racing, issued this as part of a 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.”
Additionally, Gallagher and GMS Racing are no longer eligible for the Dash 4 Cash field this week at Dover International Speedway. Ryan Sieg, driver of the No. 39 RSS Racing, will replace Gallagher after finishing sixth at Talladega.
“Hate the circumstances but just got word from NASCAR we are in the Dash 4 Cash at Dover,” Sieg shared on Twitter later in the morning.
Gallagher has made 49 starts in the Xfinity Series and an additional 59 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He has five top-five finishes and 22 top-10 finishes combined across both series.
