AJ Allmendinger has been reinstated by NASCAR upon completion of the road to recovery program. Last weekend Allmendinger was a guest of Roger Penske at Auto Club Speedway for the finale of the IndyCar season.
The reinstatement clears Allmendinger to resume a career in NASCAR. Allmendinger had been suspended NASCAR following a positive test for a banned substance. Allmendinger later announced the substance to be adderall. He was subsequently released by Penske Racing.
The following statement was released by Allmendinger.
“I want to thank everyone for their support through this entire process,” said Allmendinger. “I appreciate that NASCAR created the the Road to Recovery program, and am grateful for the opportunity to return to competition. The Road to Recovery program was really helpful to me in getting my priorities reset away from the race track. And, honestly, that helped find my love of racing again and why I began racing in the first place. I’m looking forward to taking this experience and be better for it moving forward.”
This past weekend Penske said that Allmendinger would be an option for teams, including his, either in NASCAR or IndyCar.
Michael Shank announced on Twitter that he was “fired up about the 2013 Daytona 24!” noting it would be “our eighth year together.” Shank had maintained though the suspension from NASCAR that he would place Allmendinger in his Daytona Prototype car for the event upon the drivers completion of the road to recovery program.
