28-year-old racer was coming off his first-ever victory, Saturday at Talladega.
Xfinity Series driver Spencer Gallagher, just off his first-ever series win, was suspended indefinitely Wednesday for violating NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy.
A NASCAR press release said Gallagher “was found to have violated Section 19 of the 2018 NASCAR rule book” after a Monday test.
Two days earlier, Gallagher earned his first victory in a NASCAR touring series, capturing the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. He’s in his second full-time season on the Xfinity Series after two seasons in NASCAR’s Truck Series.
The 28-year-old Gallagher, has agreed to participate in NASCAR’s “Road to Recovery” program, a requirement before he is eligible to be cleared to race again. He issued the following 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 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 (now), I will do whatever it takes to make this right.”
GMS Racing, Gallagher’s team, released the following statement from team president Mike Beach:
"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.”