NASCAR crew  member suspended over substance abuse policy

UPDATE R3 Motorsports officials say they respect NASCAR’s decision to indefinitely suspend one of the Nationwide Series team’s former crew members. The team issued a statement Thursday about the suspension of John Boyd, who NASCAR said was found to be in violation of its substance-abuse policy. The team said Boyd was a contract employee who served as a tire carrier on race day and was not a day-to-day employee.

“We strongly support NASCAR and their continued effort regarding their substance-abuse policy," R3 co-owner Rob Fuller said. “NASCAR respectfully contacted us in advance to inform us of the test results for Mr. Boyd. We thank them for their professionalism in this matter. Mr. Boyd must now deal directly with NASCAR regarding this issue. R3 Motorsports is fairly new to NASCAR competition, and we want them, our sponsors, crew members and fans to know we stand by and support NASCAR’s substance-abuse initiatives. We will continue to work with them in the future in regards to this and all matters."

03/11/09 John Boyd, a licensed crew member for the #23 team in the Nationwide Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy. On March 9, Boyd was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 7-5 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. NASCAR PR