NASCAR Xfinity Series: Spencer Gallagher reinstated

GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher, who drove full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series prior to his suspension, has been reinstated.

Spencer Gallagher, 28, has not driven in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, or any NASCAR race for that matter, since he won the Sparks Energy 300 at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama on Saturday, April 28.

The driver of the #23 GMS Racing Chevrolet was suspended after he failed a random drug test following his win in the Sparks Energy 300, which was his first career Xfinity Series victory and his first career victory in any NASCAR series.

As a result of the fact that Gallagher won the Sparks Energy 300, he had essentially secured a berth in the 2018 Xfinity Series races. However, because he was suspended and not granted a waiver for the six (soon to be seven) races that he missed, he is no longer playoff eligible.

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Gallagher has now been reinstated by NASCAR after completing the mandatory Road to Recovery program, and he is set to return to the seat of the #23 Chevrolet in next Friday’s Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. He will not drive in this Friday’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Chase Elliott is scheduled to drive the #23 Chevrolet in the race at Daytona this weekend. Elliott, a full-time Cup Series driver, has split time driving the #23 Chevrolet during Gallagher’s suspension with fellow full-time Cup Series driver Alex Bowman and full-time Truck Series drivers Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley.

Here is what GMS Racing president Mike Beam had to say about Gallagher being eligible to return, according to Yahoo Sports.

"“The whole GMS organization is very proud of Spencer (Gallagher) for getting reinstated after completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program after the results we received post-Talladega. Spencer will return to the No. 23 at Kentucky Speedway and then again after our agreed contracts are fulfilled.”"

Here is what Gallagher had to say on Twitter about being reinstated.

https://twitter.com/23SpeedRacer/status/1014586209123745792

Gallagher’s first season as a full-time Xfinity Series driver was last season. He had previously spent two seasons as the full-time driver of the #23 GMS Racing Chevrolet in the Truck Series. He finished in 10th and 12th place in the Truck Series championship standings in the 2015 season and the 2016 season, respectively, and he finished in 19th in last season’s Xfinity Series standings.

Through nine races in the 2018 Xfinity Series season, Gallagher had racked up one victory, two top five finishes and five top 10 finishes. He had not finished a race in lower than 17th place, and his average finish was a solid 9.8. By comparison, his average finish last season was a disappointing 24.4.

Even though he has missed the last six of the 15 races that have been contested so far this season and he is set to miss a seventh in this weekend’s race at Daytona, Gallagher still sits in 14th place in the championship standings as a result of what was a strong start to the season before he was issued his suspension.

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Tune in to NBC Sports Network next Friday, July 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET to watch Spencer Gallagher make his return to the #23 GMS Racing Chevrolet in the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

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