Penske Racing South

It's no longer the biggest story in the NASCAR world, after controversial late-race tactics by Michael Waltrip Racing earned them significant penalties, but the downfall of Brad Keselowski still merits some conversation as the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins in Chicago this weekend.

Namely, the following question needs an answer: why is Keselowski only the second defending Chase champion (the other being Tony Stewart in 2006) to miss the following year's 10-race playoff?

The answer isn't as simple as you might think.

Yes, of course Keselowski's engine failure two weeks ago in Atlanta may have been the final straw. After leading 31 laps and running up front for most of the race, he lost an engine, taking him out of a sure-fire top-10 run and potentially even his first win of the year. He earned 10 points that race, instead of a potential 47 for a victory; the resulting 37-point swing would have put him six points to the good after the Richmond race.

But an entire season, especially not just the regular season, is almost never won or lost by one good or bad race. The truth is, Keselowski had plenty of other opportunities to make up those 31 points and missed them.

Had he been able to sustain the momentum of the first eight races of the season, Keselowski would've been fine, even without a win; with seven top 10s, he still ranked third in points through that section of the season. But the next four races brought finishes of 33rd at Richmond, 15th at Talladega, 32nd at Darlington and 36th at Charlotte, dropping him to 10th in the standings.

The Darlington and Charlotte races were run under the eye of Kevin Buskirk, after what eventually worked out to a two-race suspension to crew chief Paul Wolfe after a team-wide violation at Texas. Had NASCAR chosen to retract the suspensions, those races could've been run a lot better—then again, they could've been so much worse if the original six-race penalty was upheld.

Either way, Keselowski has earned only four top 10s in the 18-race span that both starts and ends at Richmond. Sure, three of those runs were top-five finishes, including a runner-up day in Watkins Glen, but in half of those races the defending champion couldn't crack the top 20.

The biggest problem in execution was that whenever Keselowski made it back into the top 10, he fell right back out not long after. A fourth place finish at Loudon elevated him from 13th to ninth; pitting from the lead with 11 laps to go at Indianapolis in the next Cup race put him right back there. His Watkins Glen run and a 12th place at Michigan kept him eighth in points; a late race accident at Bristol the next week knocked him out for good.

So what's at fault for the lead Penske team's failure to make the Chase?

Could it have been a more relaxed Nationwide schedule, keeping Keselowski out of the car during his mid-season slump as teammate and current Chaser Joey Logano got extra track time? Could it have been pressure on both Logano, whose replacement Matt Kenseth has the top Chase seed, and Penske to put the No. 22 car in at any cost? Could those two races without Wolfe, bringing the team from having a bad race to a full-blown tailspin, have ended the team's Chase shot long before any of us realized it?

Chances are, all three played a factor, but don't downplay the lack of Nationwide seat time. Last year, Keselowski ran 18 of the first 25 races in the lower series; this year, the number fell to 12. Logano has been Penske's primary Nationwide driver in the No. 22 since Talladega in the spring, running 11 races.

No matter the reason, 2013 will prove a learning year for Keselowski, Wolfe, Penske and the entire Blue Deuce team. There are plenty of lessons to take out of the season so far, and a ton that they can apply to 2014—but not before some heavy reflection on this year's failure.

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Denny Hamlin is the most recent driver to have his hand slapped by NASCAR for exercising his First Amendment rights. Hamlin, in a responsible way, expressed his concern to the media over the new Generation 6 Sprint Cup car’s handling capabilities.

His opinion, both frank and honest, landed him a $25,000 fine from NASCAR officials.

In an ironic and humorous twist, Jeff Gordon, also exercising his First Amendment rights, was critical of Hamlin’s criticism.

But it’s not like Hamlin said, “Thanks, NASCAR, for making me a millionaire, but here’s what I think of your new car." He was starting an honest dialogue about the sport he loves.

That brings me to reigning Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, whose outspoken nature is the source of many conversations about the sport.

Keselowski’s reign as champion is still in its infancy, but he did a stellar job of making 2012 damn enjoyable to watch, from his historic Twitter chat during the Daytona 500 red flag down to his beer-fueled championship interview at Homestead.

Quite possibly, though, the most enjoyable thing Keselowski has done of recent is the preseason interview he gave USA Today.

Any other champion would have given the conventional pre-rehearsed speech: Thank you sponsors, thank you team and thank you Jesus. But not Keselowski. No, like a politician running for office, he laid out his manifesto for the future of NASCAR.

From the lack of WiFi at tracks to increasing purse money as a way of breaking a team’s reliance on sponsorship dollars, no topic was deemed sacred for the champ. Heck, he was even critical of (in his opinion) NASCAR’s attempts to influence the way singers performed the national anthem on race day.

One part I’ve always been critical about is the schedule. NASCAR can only do so much growing by concentrating races in the Deep South. Unfortunately, the Deep South is also home to some of the poorest states in the USA. Currently, NASCAR has nine races in states that rank in the bottom 10 for median income.

The number of races grows to 10 if you count the Sprint All-Star Race.

Racing is a sponsor-driven sport, and sponsors want to go where the disposable income is. NASCAR would be wise to take a cue from Formula One and follow the money.

No, I’m not suggesting Bahrain or Abu Dhabi, but NASCAR should consider Keslowski’s advice on looking north of the border. There are lots of NASCAR fans in Canada, and the country has been fairly resilient to the economic woes the rest of the world has endured. More recently, Toronto overtook Chicago as the fourth-most populous city in North America.

But that’s beside the point.

The point is that Keselowski’s idealism is meant to invoke debate, and if you look at the earlier part of this article, then mission accomplished, Mr. Champion. Unfortunately, NASCAR doesn’t take Idealism or the First Amendment lightly, and it called Keselowski to the principal’s office over his USA Today interview.

It’s a shame that the series, which claims to have the "Great American Race," frowns upon what I would say is the greatest part of the American Constitution.

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When Mark Martin first spoke of Joey Logano in 2005, the racing world was put on alert. Logano, who was 15 at the time, had already gained several accolades in racing. It was only natural that Joe Gibbs proceeded to sign him.

Logano responded by winning the 2007 Camping World East title. Logano's rising star was furthered when he made his Nationwide debut at Dover in June of 2008, where he finished sixth. He proceeded to win the pole for the next two races, crashing in the first but winning the second in just his third series start.

He proceeded to post consistent finishes throughout the course of the year. It went without saying that he was the heir apparent to the No. 20 Home Depot ride that Tony Stewart was to vacate at the end of 2008. In his first race for the team, he proceeded to flatten the front-end of the orange Toyota in a vicious hit and finished last in his first race with the new team.

Was that a harbinger for things to come?

Logano, who is 22, has two wins, one by virtue of rain during a race that otherwise served to be characteristic of his rookie season, a handful of top-fives and top-10s and five poles. In other words, not the results of a kid who was poised to eclipse Jeff Gordon’s career on paper. So, when he was tabbed to take over the wheel of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion at Penske, many were left wondering: What does this accomplish?

Penske is a motorsports powerhouse who only recently claimed NASCAR’s pinnacle, the Sprint Cup Championship. He has dominated other forms of motorsport such as IndyCar and Trans-Am, so the organization is no stranger to success. Young Logano, who has a wellspring of talent (see dominance of 2012 Nationwide Series), would serve to benefit from the experience of having Roger Penske as a boss and Brad Keselowski as a teammate.

However, Logano is being placed with an unproven team in the No. 22. That may sound strange, but 2012 was dismal for the team. Granted, Kurt Busch pulled off a couple of wins in 2011 on two very different, very difficult tracks, but he finished 11th in the season standings before being shown the door by Roger Penske.

When 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth was tabbed to take over the No. 20 at Gibbs, Joe Gibbs himself was adamant that he intended to keep Logano within the organization either on a part-time basis or as a full-time Nationwide driver. One may wonder if it was a matter of pride, but Logano chose to search for other options.

The Nationwide Series is a great series to hone the skills of drivers both young and old. Cagey veterans like Elliott Sadler are using the series to rejuvenate their careers, while youngsters like Kyle Larson use it as a stepping stone to possible greatness.

Given Logano’s dominance of the series, it would have only made sense for him to add to his already full trophy case by dominating the 2013 Nationwide Season in a Gibbs Toyota like he has been doing. Logano’s career, although young, is in dire need of rejuvenation, and it would have been a wise decision to go that route. It is understandable that part-time route would have felt too much like a demotion. Having your hotshot racing career being demoted from big time to AAA isn’t exactly something driven individuals would want out in the open.

Logano is a driven individual, though. His 2012 win at Pocono was sheer mastery. The way he overcame Mark Martin near the end of the race wasn’t typical Logano, hungry but not ferocious. No, that day, Logano tore apart the tricky triangle like a big steak dinner and Martin like he was the dessert afterwards. That was the Logano that needs to be showcased more.

The 2013 season will be big in young Joey Logano’s career, as it will be a make-or-break year. The decisions have been made and the die has been cast. Whether he continues to be lax behind the wheel or the shot in the arm that the No. 22 team needs, time will tell.

It’s been a couple of weeks since AJ Allmendinger returned to a NASCAR-sanctioned race after completing the sanctioning body’s "Road to Recovery" drug rehab program. 

Old news, really.

If you’re new to NASCAR, then allow me summarize: In July Allmendinger failed a NASCAR drug test, testing positive for a banned substance. He was suspended, and then eventually fired by his team owner, Roger Penske.  

His return to the track wasn’t worth writing about because there wasn’t really a story. He’s unemployed, looking to change that, and with none of the top NASCAR teams having any vacancies next year the only real question was whether Allmendinger would retreat from NASCAR to IndyCar or sports car racing—a question that will probably be answered in the coming months.

And then I stumbled up on the ridiculous reader comments at the end of this article.

While the comment section at the bottom any online article is meant to promote debate and discussion, it also has one unfortunate byproduct—the promotion of idiocy.

After reading comments from would-be "armchair crew chiefs" (who are more akin to cyber bullies) calling Allmendinger a "druggie" (that comment has since disappeared) and even trying to wager how likely he is to re-offend, I thought it would be a good opportunity to remind the Deep South just how minor his crime really was.

NASCAR’s drug policy isn’t public, so it’s difficult to deduce what exactly is prohibited.

Drivers do have the option of running it by NASCAR before using a certain drug. Now, for the discussion board bubbas this doesn’t mean asking the powers-that-be if marijuana is OK, just as long as it’s made in the USA. This is about the little things in everyday over-the-counter medicine and perceptions.

You read that correctly. Your local drug store could be chock-full of products that could end your career as a professional athlete.

It was eventually revealed that Allmendinger tested positive for amphetamine, an ingredient in the drug Adderall. The overall aim of Adderall is to increase alertness. While no doctor, Google was good enough show me that this is a prescription drug used to combat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Allmendinger claims that a friend offered it to him to combat fatigue. I believe him when he says that is was an isolated incident, because it's likely that this would have come up a lot sooner if he were a true addict.

Whatever. Back to the point of my article.

Had he been booked for something like cocaine or heroin, then my response would have been one of sympathy and a speedy recovery. Had it been steroids, then I probably would have written something condemning. No athlete takes steroids without trying to get an unfair advantage and that, simply put, is cheating. We punish crew chiefs that forget their restrictor plates at Daytona, and we should punish athletes that go beyond vitamins and protein shakes.

But what Allmendinger has had to endure is a little draconian. Yes, it’s silly that he was taking someone else’s prescription meds, but calling him a "druggie" on an online discussion board summarizes why Penske was forced to fire him. The general population isn't smart enough to deduce the use of one drug from the next. He failed a drug test. Yes, it was banned and yes, he should be punished, but that’s all they see. He might as well share a bunk with Charlie Sheen.

The irony is that while drugs like Adderall can get you tossed from the sport, other (and arguably controversial) fatigue remedies such as Red Bull, Monster and 5 Hour Energy will not. In fact, their sponsorship dollars will ensure you stay employed.

Now that A.J. Allmendinger has been released from Penske racing for failing a second drug test, it's time to start wondering who will end up in the 22 car.

Allmendinger won't be back, at least not for Penske racing.  While he is going to go through NASCAR's road to recovery program, it's hard to see how a driver who has failed a drug test and never won a Sprint Cup race could make a comeback with the organization he was fired from, let alone the Sprint Cup series itself.

While Allmendinger has the support of Tony Stewart and other drivers, it won't be enough to see this former NASCAR driver make a comeback

Stewart was quoted over at ESPN.com as saying:

"It's not a position we really have had to deal with much in this series. He's a talented driver and a good guy. He deserves to be in this series. Whatever he has to do to make those steps happen, he has the talent and skill to do it, and he deserves another chance."

The status of the 22 car is extremely important for next season because it has what other teams don’t: Big sponsorship. 

Still, what will happen to the No. 22? With great sponsorship and being on one of NASCAR's top racing teams, whoever gets the chance to drive the 22 should consider themselves extremely lucky and take full advantage of it.

When the season comes to an end, Penske racing will have several options.

The Shift From Dodge to Ford

The shift back to Ford from Dodge will have an overall effect on Penske racing.  Not only will the bodies of the cars look different, Penske will be supplied with Roush Yates engines.

Roush Yates CEO Doug Yates was quoted over at aol.sportingnews.com as saying:

"It's truly an honor to provide Penske Racing with Roush Yates Ford engines. I have always admired Roger Penske as a team owner and a respected businessman in our sport and beyond. I am looking forward to many wins, championships, and other successes in supporting the Penske organization."

Penske had fielded Fords from 1991 to 2002, so while the shift may not seem all that new, it could be considered part of a complete fresh start for whatever driver Penske puts in the 22 next season.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Putting Hornish Jr. in the No. 22 car is just one option that Penske has.  It may not be the best option going into next season though.

Hornish Jr's. best finish so far this year has been 16th, which was at Indianapolis.  It's a big difference from how well he is doing in the Nationwide series.

While Allmendinger wasn’t doing anything spectacular, if Hornish Jr. wants to stand out at Penske, a couple of top five or top 10 finishes would help.

There was also some talk of Penske fielding a third car in the Sprint Cup Series to help Hornish Jr. develop into a better driver and ease him into the series.

Hornish Jr. could end up staying in the Nationwide series another year while doing limited Sprint Cup races instead of a full-time schedule in the No. 22 next season.

"That's our plan to continue using him," Penske said over at USAToday.com. "We talked to the sponsor, and we think that gives us the most continuity and a chance to see how Sam develops. As we get further down the road, if we want to make a change, we can do that. I don't have a list of where we might be. We have a couple of sponsor commitments for a third car in a couple of races where Sam would be that driver."

If Hornish wants a full ride in the Sprint Cup series next year, he needs to step up his game as the season progresses.

Joey Logano

With Matt Kenseth expected to join Joe Gibbs Racing next season and take either the No. 20 car or the sponsorship behind it, Joey Logano's future looks a little cloudy.

JGR has already stated (via ESPN) that they would like to keep Logano on the team, but they would need to field a fourth car and sponsorship would play a role.

If Logano does re-sign with JGR, he may have to run a split schedule between the Nationwide series and the Sprint Cup series because of sponsorship.

Logano is similar to Hornish Jr.  They both race extremely well in the Nationwide series, but somewhat struggle in the Sprint Cup series.

Logano did manage to win one race this year, but would a split schedule be the answer in 2013 for him?

Even though Logano struggles in the Sprint Cup series, taking a step back to part time would be pointless.  A shift to Penske racing, with different engines, and a team where he wouldn't be overshadowed by Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, could be just what Logano needs.

Logano was quoted over at USAToday.com as saying:

"Like I've been saying, I look at all my options. It's a great team and a great car. Definitely an option you look at and try to weigh it out."

Penske racing should consider Logano as a full time driver of the 22 for 2013.

Ryan Newman

The least likely driver, besides Kurt Busch, to end up driving the 22 would have to be Ryan Newman.  While Newman's contract is up next year at Steward-Haas racing, Newman seems focused on remaining on the team.

Newman was quoted over at aol.SportingNews.com as saying:

"My goal is to stay at Stewart-Haas and keep doing what we’re doing and we’re working on that. I made it a point not to (burn bridges). There were certain people I didn’t get along with, but that’s going to happen wherever you go.”

The biggest issue for Newman over at SHR, though, is with sponsorship.  Losing the Army sponsorship that has been a big part of Newman's team is going to hurt the 39 car next season. Quicken Loans, another sponsor, has yet to sign for the 2013 season.

While Newman might want to stay at SHR, a lack of sponsorship could always force him to look somewhere else for the 2013 season.

Of course Penske Racing would have to want to take Newman back, but if they were looking for a top driver for the 22, Newman could be the one.

Stability

There are several other drivers who could also end up trying to land the 22 Penske ride.  Trevor Bayne or David Ragan, for example, both won races last year and could be looking for new rides when the 2013 season starts up.

The problem, though, is that they both lack consistency in the Sprint Cup Series.  What did either driver do outside of their single wins last season?

After what Penske has been through with Allmendinger, you can bet that they will try to get a driver who they feel can deliver better results and get the 22 into victory lane.

Almendinger won't be back, at least at Penske Racing.  While they do have several options to think about right now, we won't truly know who will end up in the 22 until next season.

The NASCAR offseason will be extremely important for Penske Racing as they weigh all of their options.

With Allmendinger gone, Penske being one of the top racing teams in NASCAR, and even the switch back to Ford, whoever ends up riding in the 22 will have been given a tremendous opportunity next season.

Who do you think will end up in the 22?  Comment below and share your thoughts.

After Wednesday's news that A.J. Allmendinger had been released from Penske Racing (via David Newton of ESPN), the 30-year-old Allmendinger is faced with the real possibility that his NASCAR career is, for all intents and purposes, over.

If this is the last time Allmendinger is seen at NASCAR's top level again, it will be a sad punctuation mark on a career that had enormous potential but never really got off the ground.

Allmendinger has shown flashes of talent in his Sprint Cup Series career. But, more times than not, any momentum or opportunity for success has been cut down by his personal mistakes or him being an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

The Los Gatos, California native was a hot, young star in the Champ Car World Series in 2006—amassing five wins and 14 podium finishes in a short three-year career—when he was offered a deal to drive for newly formed Team Red Bull in the Sprint Cup Series.

But the combination of an inexperienced driver in Allmendinger and a brand new race team that were racing a brand new make of car—Toyota—created such a learning curve that made progress seem like a pipe dream in 2007.

Allmendinger missed the '07 Daytona 500 after crashing during his Gatorade Duel qualifying race. In fact, he failed to qualify for the first five races of 2007 and qualified for only 17 of the 36 that year.

After veteran Mike Skinner took over the seat for the early part of 2008 due to another one of Allmendinger's poor starts, Allmendinger returned, and the team's performance began to improve. He notched his first top-10 finish at Indianapolis in July 2008 and would earn three more top-20 finishes over the next 10 races.

But following a career-best ninth-place finish at Kansas that fall, Allmendinger was suddenly released from Red Bull Racing in favor of young newcomer Scott Speed, abruptly ending all the progress that had been made.

Allmendinger found a new home at Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009. He finally made the Daytona 500 in his third try, recording his first career top-five finish with a third-place result, and qualified for all 36 races for the first time in his career.

In October 2009, though, Allmendinger jeopardized his ride when he was charged with a DUI in North Carolina. He was placed on probation by NASCAR for the rest of '09 but not penalized further.

Allmendinger spent the next two seasons in the famous No. 43 and continued to improve, earning three more top-five finishes and finishing at a career-best 15th in the final 2011 point standings.

When Kurt Busch vacated Penske Racing's No. 22 car after the 2011 season, Allmendinger was hired to take over a ride that had made the Chase just three months prior. He seemed to have finally landed the big break he was looking for.

Allmendinger's 2012 season was seemingly doomed from the start, though, as he finished 34th in Daytona after a pit road crash with Ryan Newman. Save for a second-place finish at Martinsville, Allmendinger did not register a single top-10 finish in the first 15 races of 2012.

Then, true to form, just as things began to look up, disaster struck. Allmendinger and the Shell/Pennzoil team finally put together back-to-back ninth-place finishes at Kentucky and Sonoma and seemed to be getting things on the right track...until the bombshell came down just before the July race at Daytona that Allmendinger was suspended for failing a random drug test.

Just like that, all the momentum, and all the promise was zapped from Allmendinger's season and perhaps his career.

In a sponsor-driven sport like NASCAR, black eyes such as this one are next to impossible to overcome. You might be allowed back on a football field or basketball court after failing a drug test, but when you want someone from corporate America to plaster their name all over your driving suit, a failed drug test can be lethal to a career.

Of course, there's a possibility that if Allmendinger completes NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, perhaps some owner will take a shot to put him back in a ride in one of NASCAR's three national touring series. But he can hang up any thought of ever getting a shot with a team of the caliber of the one that he was just booted from.

And that's a shame. Allmendinger seems like a nice enough guy. He has always carried himself well in front of the camera in interviews and seemed like he was finally on the fast track to stardom after years of struggles.

But, at this point, it looks like his career—or lack thereof—will go down as one of the biggest wastes of talent in NASCAR history.

What a long, strange trip the 2012 NASCAR season has been for A.J. Allmendinger. That saga finally came to an end on Wednesday, when Penske Racing finally released Allmendinger nearly a month after a failed drug test removed him from his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.

Allmendinger's career at Penske ends with three top-10 finishes in 17 starts, including a career-best second-place finish at Martinsville in April, and one admission into NASCAR's Road to Recovery program. Granted, the alliance likely would have ended at the conclusion of this season anyway, when Allmendinger's one-year contract expired.

Unlike former driver Kurt Busch, who made it into last year's Chase for the Sprint Cup only to be fired after a string of erratic behavior, Allmendinger only cracked the top 20 in points once all season and was 23rd in the standings at the time of his suspension.

Allmendinger only finished on the lead lap seven times, though the final two—at Sonoma and Kentucky—were his first consecutive top-10 finishes of the year. His best opportunity came when he started on the pole at Kansas and led 44 laps, only to run out of gas and drop a cylinder and finish 10 laps down in 32nd.

Penske made the decision for the time being to replace Allmendinger with Sam Hornish Jr., another former open-wheel star who has had his share of struggles in stock cars. Currently fourth in Nationwide Series points, Hornish has made the most of his second chance at a Cup ride, having only failed to complete one lap in the past two races.

Meanwhile, the long-term prospects for both driver and team are a bit less certain.

After he completes NASCAR's treatment program, Allmendinger will have to fight public perception to ever land another ride, never mind one as prestigious as one of Penske's cars. In fact, he may never see a competitive stock car ride again, and he might have to rely on friend Michael Shank for a ride in either the Rolex Sports Car Series or IndyCar, if Shank's proposed open-wheel team ever gets off the ground.

For Penske, however, the options are a bit more appealing, as many drivers are still unsigned for the 2013 season and beyond.

Signing Denny Hamlin may be a pipe dream, while Busch and Ryan Newman are unlikely to return as ex-Penske drivers who left on less-than-stellar terms. Recently, speculation has centered on the ride going to Joey Logano, who appears likely to lose his ride at Joe Gibbs Racing to Matt Kenseth.

Hornish could earn the ride for 2012, though Penske's original plans had been to move him up to Cup in a third car. With Penske's imminent switch to Ford power in 2013, Trevor Bayne, who has been running a limited Cup schedule for the Wood Brothers, has also come up as a possible replacement.

Unfortunately, Allmendinger's positive drug test has plenty of negative effects on the future for both sides. Penske will employ their third (or fourth, if not Hornish) driver in the No. 22 car in three years next season, while Allmendinger's entire career is in jeopardy.

It's a situation with no winners, and some pretty big losers, Allmendinger most of all. What had been a great opportunity for both sides to advance to the next level ends with nothing more than disappointment and major rebuilding projects ahead.

The testing of the "B" sample from Penske Racing driver, A.J. Allmendinger, will take place Tuesday, July 24 at 8:00 a.m. CDT. The results could be game-changing for some of the players in this high stakes race.

Allmendinger was suspended temporarily by NASCAR on July 7, just hours before the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. He had tested and qualified the No. 22 Dodge.

The "A" sample of urine, taken at Kentucky Speedway, revealed a positive result for a substance in violation of the substance-abuse policy in place for NASCAR.

Roger Penske has substituted Sam Hornish Jr. for Allmendinger in the No. 22 car. Hornish drives the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Penske has stood behind the suspended driver as he awaits the results of the second test conducted by Aegis Laboratories in Nashville, TN.

Allmendinger will have his own toxicologist present at the testing on Tuesday morning. The results are to be revealed to Penske Racing within 24-48 hours.

Should the "B' test prove to be negative, Penske would immediately put him back in the seat of the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. Should it result in a positive, he will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR.

Hornish does have the goal of returning to the Cup series and he is using the opportunity to drive the No. 22 and prove his ability to the boss.

Penske stated, "This is a great chance for him (Hornish) to show us what he has. He would obviously be someone we would consider if the 22 seat became open."

Penske said of Allmendinger, "I'm more concerned with him as an individual than I am the circumstance. We'll deal with the circumstance in a business way and support him one way or another."

Allmendinger has the right to participate in NASCAR's Road to Recovery program which takes approximately five months if the "B" test is positive. Upon completion, he may be reinstated by NASCAR.

There are conflicts with Hornish and his Nationwide schedule that could make it difficult for him to drive the No. 22 if Allmendinger is not available. He is running for the series title.

Drivers who are free agents after this season or who may be available now will likely be considered to fill the seat of the No. 22 should Allmendinger or Hornish be unable to.

All of those who know Allmendinger hope that the second test is negative, which would void the first. That will most likely not be the case, being as the test is on the same specimen.

The Allmendinger camp officially reported that the substance in question was a stimulant.

NASCAR's substance-abuse policy does not prohibit it from disclosing the source of the positive test. Since 2009, NASCAR has chosen not to do so because of privacy concerns.

So, the countdown is about to begin at Penske Racing. Will Allmendinger return to the No. 22 or perhaps end up back in the IndyCar series?

The answers will begin unfolding in the next few days.

Update: A.J. Allmendinger has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR for violation of the substance-abuse policy effective July 24.