After he was pulled over for an improper lane change this month and his vehicle was searched, New York State Policecharged NASCAR Truck Series driver Tyler Dippel with criminal possession of a controlled substance, leading to a NASCAR suspension that’s sidelined him for at least one race. But Dippel said Wednesday that the charges were dismissed, and he’s hoping to get back on track.
Dippel, who NBC Sports and Fox Sports reported was charged with the Class A misdemeanor on Aug. 18, appeared in the Town of Wallkill Court on Wednesday morning in relation to the incident. Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass tweeted that New York State Police said a pill bottle that was in his vehicle when he was pulled over, which was prescribed to someone else, had drugs commonly found in Adderall.
Wednesday afternoon, a post signed by Dippel on his official Facebook page said the charges had been dismissed, as his team gave proof the prescription wasn’t his and “the person that the prescription belonged to accepted responsibility for leaving them in [his] vehicle.” Jalopnik called the court to confirm the details of the Facebook post, but the court would not speak on it and instead redirected us to Dippel’s legal representation, James Monroe.
Monroe confirmed the dismissal of the controlled-substance charge as well as one of his two lane-change violations, and Pockrass said in a tweet Wednesday that Dippel pled guilty to a New York traffic law in regards to lane changing. Monroe wouldn’t speak on whose prescription was in the vehicle.
In the post, Dippel apologized for what happened and said he was pulled over for changing lanes without proper signal. He also noted that NASCAR suspended him for violating its code of conduct, as also pointed out by Pockrass in a tweet, not its substance-abuse policy. Jalopnik has reached out to NASCAR about reinstatement, asking if there are plans for it and when it might happen. The Truck Series’ next race isn’t until Sept. 13 in Las Vegas.
Dippel already missed one race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, where his team replacedhim with driver DJ Kennington. He didn’t didn’t qualify for the Truck Series playoffs, though, therefore he isn’t in contention for the title.
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