there are some rumors floating around that Shane Hmiel has been released from his ride with the #48 Innovative Motorsports team, but have not been able to confirm that with sources or the team. He is still listed on NASCAR.com’s Entry List for the Stacker 2 200 race at Dover.
UPDATE: Shane Hmiel has reportedly been released from the #48 team, effective immediately. He will be replaced by Jeff Green this weekend at Dover.(BGN Racing Site)(9-16-2003)
UPDATE 2: Shane Hmiel will not compete in this weekend’s race at Dover with his #48 Innovative Motorsports team and may face suspension from the series, ThatsRacin.com has learned. Hmiel will not be driving the #48 Chevy in Saturday’s Stacker 200 at Dover International Speedway and his team has made arrangements for former Busch champion Jeff Green to sub in the Dover event and perhaps longer, several sources confirmed. During Wednesday’s taping of Performance Racing Network’s Alltel Pit Reporters show, Green said he was driving the #48 for most of the rest of the season. He was the show’s call-in guest. Speculation is that Hmiel, 23, faces suspension from the series regarding an undisclosed violation of NASCAR policies. Since Tuesday morning, ThatsRacin.com has sought comment from a number of NASCAR officials on Hmiel’s status. At first, officials referred all questions regarding Hmiel to NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter, who did not return several telephone messages left for him Tuesday at his office in Daytona Beach, Fla. Wednesday afternoon, after additional requests for comment, a one-sentence statement from Hunter was released by email: “It would be inappropriate at this time for us to comment on speculation such as this,” it read. Messages left at Hmiel’s Innovative Motorsports team also went unreturned Wednesday. Hmiel is in his second full season in the series. He is eighth in series points with four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 26 starts.(ThatsRacin.com)
AND from NASCAR.com Buzz: An unnamed source said that Hmiel was subjected to a drug test after the race at Richmond International Raceway two weeks ago and allegedly failed it. A spokesperson for Hmiel’s Busch team declined comment Wednesday, and NASCAR could not be immediately reached for comment.(NASCAR.com)(9-17-2003)
UPDATE 3: Innovative Motorsports, Inc. (IMI) is releasing Shane Hmiel of his driving duties of the #48 NASCAR Busch Series Chevrolet Monte Carlo effective immediately.
As of today, Hmiel has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR sanctioned events for actions deemed detrimental to stock car racing and violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy. First and foremost, our entire organization wants to apologize to our sponsors, NASCAR, each of the NASCAR competitors, and our fans due to the recent developments surrounding this situation, said IMI team owner George deBidart. We certainly do not condone this type of behavior, and we fully support NASCAR in its decision. In an effort to prevent these circumstances from embarrassing our team and me in the future, we will immediately institute a drug testing policy within our organization for all employees.
The #48 IMI team is currently 9th in the NASCAR Busch Series owner standings. IMI has selected Jeff Green to drive the #48 at Dover this weekend. Green will start 9th.(Innovative Motorsports PR)(9-18-2003)
