Your Turn: AJ Allmendinger's release

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Our experts get to have their say every Tuesday, debating the week's burning questions in our Turn 4 wrangle.

Now it's Your Turn.

Did Penske Racing make the right call by releasing AJ Allmendinger?

•  
  80%
  Yes
•  
  20%
  No

(Total votes: 4,133)

We're going to select one hot-button topic each week and let y'all have at it. We invite you to cast your vote in the accompanying poll and then steer down to the Conversation section and tell us why you voted the way you did.

Prefer Twitter? You can tweet your response using the hashtag #ESPNYourTurn.

We will collect the top tweets and most engaging comments and publish them below. Check back throughout the day to see if yours gets posted.

This week's question: Did Penske Racing make the right call by releasing AJ Allmendinger?

Allmendinger was dropped Wednesday by Penske Racing eight days after a backup urine sample confirmed that the suspended driver had tested positive for amphetamines. Allmendinger since had joined NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, which is required by the league for reinstatement after a failed substance abuse test.

So what say you, NASCAR Nation? Did Allmendinger deserve a second chance with Penske Racing?

Now have at it …

The best from Twitter (#ESPNYourTurn)

Yes, AJ Allmendinger deserved 2 be relesed. Costing his team plenty of points and big $$. #espnyourturn

— Collin Perry (@collin_perry) August 1, 2012

No doubt that Penske made the right choice by letting AJ go. Too good of a team to that kind of distraction #ESPNYourTurn

— NASCARnerd (@NASCARnerd1948) August 1, 2012

#ESPNYourTurn must kno how it is framed 1st(enhancement or danger) the former is way more understandable than the latter with said substance

— G. Eric Latham, Jr. (@AbyssWarrior) August 1, 2012

@dnewtonespn @ajdinger #EspnYourTurn Absolutely. Integrity must be upheld.

— Donna (@JGTeam24FAN) August 1, 2012

@dnewtonespn @ajdinger #YourTurnESPN; As a business owner it was his only choice.

— Laurie Larsen (@lloakgrove) August 1, 2012

Follow the ESPN.com crew on Twitter: Terry Blount | Joe Breeze | K. Lee Davis/ESPN Motorsports | Ed Hinton | Ryan McGee | David Newton | Marty Smith | Matt Willis

The best from ESPN Conversations

• Foster 1982 -- Of course it was the correct thing to do. AJ already had the drunk driving charge and got a second chance with a big team like Penske and a sponsor as good as Shell. He then blew that chance when he failed the recent chance. The only way he is coming back next year is in a start and park car. He is going to have to pay his dues to get a big name sponsor or team to come near him.

• V1tamnT -- As much as I like AJ and as much as I think his positive test was the result of an OTC supplement, at the end of the day, he is still responsible for what he puts in his body. It would be interesting to find out what supplement caused the positive test, but it's not really relevant. AJ wasn't running particularly well and probably wasn't coming back to the 22 next year anyway. The interesting thing will be how Hornish runs in the 22. He's not been particularly stellar in the three races he picked up before AJ was released and it looks like he's there for the rest of the season ...

• txtechjmacattack -- It's so hard to argue that it's not the right call. Mediocrity and suspicion of drug-use creates radioactivity in the sponsor driven world of NASCAR. It's a shame too, because this was Allmendinger's first shot with a talented, proven, and stable team. Now it's all out the window.

• coltcub64 -- It was the right decision and the expected one. Now the question becomes, what does Penske do now? Give Hornish another chance? While that's likely, does Shell want to see another driver in the 22 car who won't win races?

• DaleJuneBugFan -- Allmendinger gotta go and isn't it interesting that Sprint Cup Champion Kurt Busch has lasted longer in the #51 than his replacement in the #22?

• RareAirLP23 -- Right or wrong, it was the only decision that Penske Racing could make. Shell Pennzoil is a marque sponsor in Nascar and they, justifiably so, have high standards. Before AJ ever failed his drug test, his performances in the car left his return highly questionable. The failed drug test was the nail in the coffin. Penkse Racing did what they had to do to keep Shell happy, and in a bigger picture, improve their race team. With the quality of free agents out there, most if not all would be an upgrade over Allmendinger.

• miller_time52 -- I say yes, not only based on this situation, but AJ's poor performance so far this year. This year was basically an experiment anyway.

• Spade Racing -- Was it the right choice for Penske? Yes. Figure it this way -- he fired an ex-champion who was still winning races for being a jerk (a big jerk, yes, but still), so why would he hold on to a driver who's never won?

• Phoenix2012-106 -- Can I vote both? It was both the right decision, for obvious reasons, and the wrong one. That's not to say, of course, that this isn't the smart decision.

•  More on ESPN Conversations.

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