DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Austin Wayne Self has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for a violation of the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.
The news was made official in Monday’s post-event penalty report following the Texas Motor Speedway race weekend.
Self, who turned 23 on March 5, was found in violation of sections 12.1 and 19 of the NASCAR Rule Book, which pertain to actions detrimental to stock-car racing and the substance abuse policy, respectively.
The Austin, Texas, native is an ARCA Menards Series race winner and finished second in points in 2015, the year before he moved into the Truck Series for the first time.
Since making his debut at Daytona Int’l Speedway in 2016, Self has amassed 66 Truck Series starts, including a career-best finish of second at Daytona in 2017.
Self competed in the first three Truck Series races of this season, earning a ninth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona in February before struggling at subsequent races at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
Bubba Wallace was tabbed to replace Self in the No. 22 AM Racing Chevrolet Silverado prior to the fourth event of the season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last month, and Wallace reprised that role last weekend at Texas as well.
At the time AM Racing announced Wallace would join the organization, team officials called the move “an effort to advance the performance component” of their Truck Series program.
Before he will be eligible for reinstatement, Self will have to enter and successfully complete NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program.
AM Racing released a statement concerning Self’s situation after NASCAR’s penalty report came out, and team officials said they expect him to be back racing once he is reinstated.
“AM Racing respects NASCAR’s decision and will follow their direction,” the team statement read. “We expect Austin Wayne Self to return to the seat as quickly as possible. AM Racing will continue to operate as normal, with a determination of a driver lineup set in the coming weeks.”