NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger suspended after failed drug test
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver A.J. Allmendinger was temporarily suspended after failing a random drug test, NASCAR said Saturday.
The announcement came shortly before the start of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Allmendinger’s team, Penske Racing, replaced Allmendinger with Sam Hornish Jr. in their No. 22 Dodge for the race.
Allmendinger, a 30-year-old native of Los Gatos, Calif., has 72 hours to request the test of another sample, said NASCAR, which did not elaborate on what the initial test results showed.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations, declined to take questions after announcing the suspension to reporters at Daytona.
Penske Racing issued a statement saying the test was administered earlier this week, that it “fully supports” NASCAR’s drug-testing program and that it “will work with NASCAR through this process and its next steps.”
Allmendinger, who joined Penske this season, began racing in NASCAR’s premier series in 2007 and still is looking for his first win. He finished 15th in the championship point standings last year driving for Richard Petty Motorsports.
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