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Substance Abuse in Nascar: A Brief History



AJ Allmendinger's recent suspension is merely one in a long line of punishments handed out by Nascar for violations of its substance abuse policy.  Here's a look back at some of the more noticeable infractions:

1953: Tim Flock is docked points and money for having too much monkey in his car.

1961-1965: Curtis Turner fails hundreds of drug tests by testing positive for unionjuana.

1973: Buddy Baker accidentally tries "shrooms", and thus is kept out of his favorite race at the time, the Moonbeam-Starlight 50,000,000.

1979: Dave Marcis narrowly avoids being banned for life after Bill France Jr. catches him smoking a Camel cigarette in the Dover garage.

1984: Richard Petty is successful in overturning his son Kyle's suspension, explaining, "Naw, he's ALWAYS like that."

1988: Tim Richmond is banned from Nascar after testing positive for Sudafed.  No, seriously--SUDAFED.

1995: Jeff Gordon is quietly reprimanded after being caught driving under the influence of a gold-digging trophy wife.

2000: Jimmy Spencer overdoses on scrapple.