Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Tyler Dippel, who was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR days before last Sunday’s race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, has had his misdemeanour charges for possession of a controlled substance dropped and had been reinstated. In a Facebook statement posted on Wednesday, Dippel explained what occurred.
“I would like to start by apologizing to my fans, Young’s Motorsports, NASCAR, Gander Outdoors, our partners, and my family and friends for the grief this situation has caused,” the post read. “Due to an ongoing investigation we have not been able to speak on the topic until today.
“On August 18, while driving home from the Orange County Fair Speedway, I was pulled-over for changing lanes without proper signal. The trooper asked my passenger and myself if we had been using drugs and we responded with ‘no’ – because we hadn’t. The trooper continued to question us and then asked to search the vehicle, which I gave him my consent as I had nothing to hide. In the back of my truck was a friend’s backpack who was not with us containing his prescription medication. Because it was in my vehicle, I was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“Upon my appearance ticket, I contacted NASCAR within hours to inform them of the situation. Due to the NASCAR rule book and code of conduct, they ruled to suspend me indefinitely. I respect their decision.”
Word of Dippel’s suspension was reported on Friday, just two days before the Chevrolet Silverado 250 in Bowmanville. A NASCAR statement cited Section 12.1 of the rulebook, marked under the phrase “actions detrimental to stock car racing”, as the reason for the decision. Dippel, who was thirteenth in points and remains in the spot despite missing a round, was replaced by D.J. Kennington for the event. Kennington finished fifteenth in his home country’s race.
The charges against the Walkill, New York native were dropped on Wednesday morning. In the post, Dippel wrote he “presented proof that the prescription was not mine and the person that the prescription belonged to accepted responsibility for leaving them in my vehicle.
“I along with my team will work closely with NASCAR to hopefully be reinstated so I can be back in the Young’s Motorsports No. 02 Chevrolet. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
On Twitter, Monster Energy Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski expressed his concern for the situation:
Later in the day, Fox Sports‘ Bob Pockrass reported Dippel has been reinstated by NASCAR:
With Dippel returning to action, he does so with plenty of time until the Truck Series’ next race on 13 September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
