Suspended Allmendinger says he failed drug test because he popped acquaintance's pill

AutoBlog: Suspended Allmendinger says he failed drug test because he popped acquaintance's pill

Suspended NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger claims he was given the pill that led to his suspension by a friend of a friend, in a Fox Sports report. Allmendinger says he was out with a "buddy" following several sponsor commitments, and revealed to his friend that he was not sleeping well. Allmendinger says he was struggling to stay awake when "One of his friends said, 'Oh I have an energy pill that I take for working out'."

That evening occurred three days prior to testing positive for amphetamine during a random drug test at Kentucky Speedway on 6/29. NASCAR officials determined what they found on him were the same chemical compound as found in Adderall.

Allmendinger was quiet regarding that evening up until this point. "I had to do some soul searching before I came out publicly" he told Fox Sports.

Per NASCAR's no-tolerance policy, Allmendinger was suspended from the following weekend's Daytona race. According to the suspended driver, it had not even occurred to him that the pill he took three days before the race was a banned substance.

Following the suspension, Allmandinger, who was in his sixth year in NASCAR, lost his ride. He was released from Penske racing and is now taking the steps to get back into racing. He has made plans to enter NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, hoping it will lead to his reinstatement.