Ex-NASCAR racer Kevin Grubb found dead

RICHMOND, Va., May 7 (UPI) -- Former NASCAR driver Kevin Grubb, who was suspended from racing because of alleged substance abuse, was found dead in a Richmond, Va.-area motel, police said.

Grubb, 31, was found in a room at the motel Wednesday. Police did not comment on the cause of death, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

"Right now, it's an ongoing death investigation," Henrico County Police Lt. Richard Cosby said. "There doesn't appear to be anything unusual or suspicious."

NASCAR suspended Grubb indefinitely in 2006 for failing to comply with its substance abuse policy. The suspension was imposed after Grubb refused to submit to drug testing after a race at Richmond International Speedway.

The violation of NASCAR's drug policy was Grubb's second, the newspaper said. He had been suspended in 2004 after testing positive for a banned substance. When he was reinstated in 2006, one of the conditions was that he would submit to drug testing at any time.

"He would not submit to a drug test," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said at the time. "We even gave him some time to think about it."

Grubb, along with his brother Wayne, drove for Grubb Motorsports.