The NASCAR world was rocked just hours before the green flag was set to drop for the 2012 Coke Zero Sugar 400. A drug test administered to A.J. Allmendinger — then a driver for Penske Racing — returned a positive result, leading to his temporary suspension. The news sparked strong reactions throughout the garage, including from Allmendinger’s former teammate, Brad Keselowski.
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Keselowski did not address the media immediately after the suspension became public. Instead, he took several days to reflect on the situation before offering his thoughts roughly a week later. His stance was firm and unequivocal: drugs, supplements, or any substances prohibited under NASCAR’s rules have no place in the sport, under any circumstances.
He said, “I laugh out loud when I read this list of people saying, ‘Well, I have my supplements checked!’ Like there’s some specialist to supplements that are okay. But these aren’t… What kind of world is that?! You know that’s terrible.”
He contested that anyone could get a doctor or a lawyer to say the things they want, and that it comes down to a personal code of avoiding any substance that is deemed to be against the law.
“Nothing should be allowed because then it just comes down to who you’ve got for a doctor or a lawyer that says that this is okay and this is not.”
Despite not having taken a single drug in his entire life, Keselowski admitted that he still feels nervous when sitting down for a drug test. This is simply because a positive result would mean the death of a driver’s career. He continued, “I’m sure I have different views than everyone else. I don’t think there needs to be a committee that approves drugs or supplements or whatever it is. I just think you shouldn’t be allowed to take anything. You should just man up and drive the damn race car.”
Following the confirmation of the substance abuse, Allmendinger’s contract with Penske was terminated. In his place, Joey Logano was hired, and he took his place in the No. 22 Ford Mustang. Keselowski himself stayed with the team till the end of the 2021 season and moved to RFK Racing in 2022 as a driver and co-owner.
Despite the number of years that have passed, his words about drug usage reverberate strongly as a personal code of conduct that the younger drivers of today might want to follow.
