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[/media-credit]Under 24 hours from the announcement that A.J. Allmendinger was suspended for being inviolation of NASCAR’s substance abuse policy, it has been announced by Allmendinger’s business manager Tara Ragan that he would be taking part in NASCAR’s Road To Recovery Program.
“While we await further information from testing to determine the cause [of the positive test], we have notified NASCAR that AJ will participate in the Road to Recovery program starting immediately,” Ragan said in a statement released. “As we have stated earlier, we respect NASCAR’s drug testing policies. They are first and foremost in place to protect drivers and AJ being among those.
“We fully support the program, and as more details become available we will share them.”
The program has been designed to help a driver get back into a race car, through a series of steps. The program can take up to five months, if not more.
“That’s a reasonable amount of time,” David Black, who heads Aegis Sciences Corporation, told ESPN.com of the five months. “Certainly, there is a substantial amount of follow-up testing to ensure the individual did not engage in any drug usage that was in violation of the program. There also has to be some elapsed time to ensure the driver is in compliance.”
Allmendinger will first report to Black, before being recommended for either treatment, counselling or rehabilitation
“Anybody who is dealing with a drug use issue has to really want to address the issue,” Black said. “They have to cooperate, comply to the recommended treatment. Really, it’s up more to the individual than anybody else.
“People can assist and help put the person back in competition, but it’s always up to the individual to be committed to the program.”
Allmendinger was first tested positive earlier this month, and then his “B” sample tested positive yesterday. Allmendinger claims through Ragan the positive test was due to a stimulant. A stimulant is defined in NASCAR’s drug policy as “amphetamine, methamphetamine, Ecstasy (MDMA), Eve (MDEA), MDA, PMA, Phentermine, and other amphetamine derivatives and related compounds.”
The claim by Allmendinger and Ragan is that the positive came as a result of a supplement or over-the-counter drug he was using. Dr. David Black, who tested both samples, told ESPN.com it is unlikely that is what occured.
“Certainly, if that had been a possibility that would have been ruled out before any action was taken,” Black told ESPN.com. ” On every positive test we have, we look to rule out the possibility of a supplement being involved. Of course, we have not identified the drug. But I’m not aware of any commercial products that would have influenced the test outcome.”
According to Ragan, the laboratory has yet to tell Allmendinger exaxtly what he tested positive for beyond a stimulant. Some drugs have been ruled out, but nothing exact has been said. However, NASCAR spokesman David Higdon says Allmendinger was told what he tested positive for.
“The MRO would have given the exact substance as part of the process,” NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said. “They know exactly what the single substance is that AJ tested positive for.”
For now, Sam Hornish Jr. has been announced of the driver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge for this weekend at Indianapolis and next weekend at Pocono. Allmendinger is in a one-year contract with Penske Racing so he may be without a ride for 2013, even if he completes the program, depending on the decision made by Roger Penske. Team president Tim Cindric told ESPN.com that it’s too early to speculate on Allmendinger’s future with the organization.
“There’s a huge amount of complexities to the overall situation,” Cindric said. “They facts are, when you look at the overall situation, we all agree as far as the rules within NASCAR to participate within those rules. There are consequences when you don’t.”
It may not be NA$CAR who does the testing but you can bet they have every say about who/when/ and how much. They don’t know squat about all the items a person can ingest.