Possession Charge Dropped, Tyler Dippel reinstated by NASCAR

By Caleb Slouha and Damon Helgevold

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Tyler Dippel was charged with possession of a controlled substance on August 18th. After appearing in a New York courtroom on Wednesday, Dippel’s charges were dropped.

Wednesday, the New York courtroom dropped the possession charges against Dippel, but as of now is currently still suspended by NASCAR. He could, however, be reinstated by the sport before the next Truck Series race in Las Vegas on September 13th.

Possession Charge Dropped, Tyler Dippel reinstated by NASCAR

Christopher Borek, Chief Assistant District Attorney for Orange County (NY), received an affidavit from the person whose prescription was in Dippel’s vehicle. The defense also provided a blood test from Dippel showing he had not ingested the drugs. Dippel did, however, plead guilty to the vehicle charges including failure to stay in his lane and speeding.

“On August 18, while driving home from the Orange County Fair Speedway, I was pulled over for changing lanes without proper signal. The trooper asked my passenger and myself if we had been using drugs and we responded with “no” because we hadn’t.” Dippel said in statement made on his Facebook profile, “The trooper continued to question us and then asked to search the vehicle, which I gave him my consent as I had nothing to hide. In the back of my truck was a friend’s backpack who was not with us containing his prescription medication. Because it was in my vehicle, I was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.”

Dippel was pulled over for going 80 mph in a 65 mph zone on August 18th, then with conflicting stories Dippel agreed to have his vehicle searched by law enforcement for them to find a bottle of Amphetamine and Dextroamphetamine in his backpack. The pill bottle was prescribed to someone else. Officially, Dippel was charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance which is a class A misdemeanor. It was the lowest level of offense for the charge.

Friday, August 23rd, NASCAR suspended Dippel indefinitely at the time for an undisclosed reason. Later, NASCAR said Dippel had violated Section 12.1 of the rulebook which is the sports code of conduct.

“I contacted NASCAR within hours to inform them of the situation. Due to the NASCAR rule book and code of conduct, they ruled to suspend me indefinitely. I respect their decision.” Dippel added.

The suspension forced the Young’s Motorsports driver out of the seat for Canadian driver D.J. Kennington, who raced the truck at the past weekend’s race in Canada. Kennington finished 15th for Young’s Motorsports. At the time of the suspension Dippel was 11th in Gander Outdoors Truck Series points and dropped to 13th after the race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this past weekend.

Despite missing the race in Canada last weekend, Dippel can race the next event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Dippel was replaced by Canadian driver, DJ Kennington for the race where he earned a 15th place finish. There has been no word on who Young’s Motorsports plans to have in the truck at Las Vegas on Sept. 13th.

Tyler Dippel isn’t in the Playoff standings, but if he or someone else was to take a win away from other playoff drivers at Las Vegas, it could shake some things up.