We finally heard a comment from A.J. Allmendinger, via his business manager Tara Ragan, who said ‘It was shocking to us’. This is of course in reference to A.J.’s failed drug test that has his career in serious limbo right now.

Ragan said Allmendinger is a health conscious person and that they are working with the race team to go through the process. "It was shocking to us," she said. "We're all a little bit shell-shocked and getting our heads around what happened. We are working closely with the folks from Penske to work through the procedure with NASCAR."

Now, just because someone is health conscious does not mean they didn’t use an illegal substance. But now that A.J. has requested his ‘B’ sample be tested, we’ll know by the end of the week whether he actually did do something very stupid.

If he didn’t do anything wrong and is cleared by the ‘B’ sample, NASCAR screwed up and owes him an apology.

If he fails again, Allmendinger faces indefinite suspension until he completes NASCAR's recovery program that includes counseling, therapy and more testing.

So in real world terms, he would lose his Penske ride (Sam Hornish said he’s ready to take over the ride permanently if asked), and no other decent team would even consider taking him on after the suspension. Essentially, he would have thrown away the opportunity of a lifetime and basically doomed his NASCAR career. Not too bright if that’s the case.

I hope he is cleared, but from what I’ve read about the accuracy of these samples in the wake of the Mayfield situation, it’s likely the result will be confirmed; which will be very bad news for A.J. Allmendinger if that’s how it goes down.

All these years of building his career will have been for nothing. And that, to steal a phrase from his business manager would be truly ‘shocking’.

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