Spencer Gallagher suspended indefinitely from NASCAR

NASCAR issued a statement Wednesday announcing that Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 23 in the XFINITY Series for GMS Racing, has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR.

Gallagher was found to have violated Section 19 (NASCAR’s substance abuse policy) of the 2018 NASCAR rule book, the sanctioning body said.

According to NASCAR, the driver has agreed to participate in NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program, which is a requirement that has to be met before Gallagher is able to race again.

“I want to assure everyone in the NASCAR community this one time error in judgement will never happen again,” Gallagher said in a statement.

The President of GMS Racing, Mike Beam, said, “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.”

With the victory last weekend, Gallagher was set to be eligible to compete for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

The official Twitter account for Ryan Sieg announced that Sieg will replace Gallagher in the Dash 4 Cash program this weekend.

“Hate the circumstances but just got word from NASCAR we are in the dash for cash at Dover,” the team said. “This is a big deal for our team.”

Gallagher won his first career NASCAR race last weekend after making a last lap pass at Talladega Superspeedway in the XFINITY Series. ESPN reported that Gallagher will not receive a waiver to be championship-eligible.

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SOURCES

ESPN
GMS Racing
NASCAR
Twitter