NASCAR announced Wednesday that driver Spencer Gallagher has successfully completed NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program and his NASCAR suspension has been lifted.
Gallagher was suspended indefinitely on May 1 for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. At the time Gallagher was the Xfinity Series most recent winner scoring his first career win the previous Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. 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.
NASCAR later added that Gallagher would not be granted a waiver for this season’s Xfinity Series playoffs, in effect nullifying his Talladega win meaning it will not count towards playoff eligibility.
Shortly after the suspension Gallagher issued 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 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.”
After the reinstatement Wednesday GMS Racing issued a statement:
“The whole GMS organization is very proud of Spencer (Gallagher) for getting reinstated after completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program after the results we received post-Talladega. Spencer will return to the No. 23 at Kentucky Speedway and then again after our agreed contracts are fulfilled.” – Mike Beam, President of GMS Racing
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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