Allmendinger silent after positive test

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

AJ Allmendinger was silent Sunday, a day after NASCAR suspended him for failing a random drug test.

Penske Racing, which gave Allmendinger the biggest break of his career this season, is withholding judgment until NASCAR’s system has been completed.

Where that leaves the 30-year-old driver remains to be seen.

“You know it’s a disappointment at this particular time, but we’re going to wait and see what the second test results are before we make any comment or decisions. I don’t think it’s fair to him,” team owner Roger Penske said Sunday before the IndyCar race in Toronto.

“I think if you look at sports, things like this happen. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t want to really make a statement pro or con right now. I’m counting on the test being proper for him within 72 hours, and at that point they’ll make a decision.”

There is no second test coming for Allmendinger, who was randomly summoned June 29 in Kentucky to provide a urine sample to NASCAR. Per NASCAR guidelines, the specimen was split in two for an “A” and a “B” samples. NASCAR announced 90 minutes before Saturday night’s race at Daytona that Allmendinger’s “A” sample had failed the test.

NASCAR didn’t reveal what Allmendinger tested positive for, and Allmendinger hasn’t commented publicly since the announcement.

He has 72 hours from Saturday to ask for his “B” sample to be tested, and Allmendinger would be subjected to an indefinite NASCAR suspension if that sample also comes back positive.

The suspension caught the Penske organization flat-footed, and the team had to scramble to get Sam Hornish Jr. off a television set in Charlotte, N.C., and back to Daytona in time to start the race in the No. 22 Dodge. A tire problem just past the halfway point caused Hornish to spin, and he finished 33rd in Allmendinger’s car.

Penske had been vacationing in Europe and was on his way to Toronto when the suspension was announced, and there has been criticism from fans that NASCAR didn’t give enough time to alert Allmendinger or the team that his test had come back positive.