Post-race altercation leads to police holding two males in custody
Stock Car Racing History
I've seen a few dirt dobbers get in trouble on pavement. But they didn't look nearly as bad as the asphalt drivers on dirt!
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Stock Car Racing History
Post-race altercation leads to police holding two males in custody
Stock Car Racing History
Far as I can tell from the police blotter, you two other reprobates are in the clear this time!
Post-race altercation leads to police holding two males in custody
Stock Car Racing History
He may not be a "Black Belt" but he's definitely a "Below the Belt.
Post-race altercation leads to police holding two males in custody
Stock Car Racing History
It's two RCR crewmen who were arrested and taken to Henrico County Jail and have now been released.
Here's the update from this morning's Richmond newspaper:
NASCAR
2 face assault charges after dispute, altercation in RIR infield
Thomas F. Costello (left), 35 , of Kannapolis, N. C., and Michael A. Scearce, 50, of Mount Ulla, N.C., face assault charges after an incident at Richmond International Raceway.
Posted: Saturday, April 27, 2013 8:45 am | Updated: 9:32 am, Sat Apr 27, 2013.
Two NASCAR crew members were taken into custody and charged with assault after what Henrico County police described as a physical altercation in the infield area of Richmond International Raceway near the driver-owner lot following last nights hard-fought ToyotaCare 250.
Michael A. Scearce, 50, of Mount Ulla, N.C., was charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault, Henrico Police Lt. Linda Toney said in a news release. Thomas F. Costello, 35, of Kannapolis, N.C., was charged with one misdemeanor count of assault. The two were charged and released early today.
"One of the two adult male victims has a shoulder injury," Toney said.
The website for Richard Childress Racing lists Scearce and Costello as crew members for driver Brian Scott, whose team clashed with that of rival Nelson Piquet Jr. on pit road, according to an Associated Press report.
Henrico Police are investigating a verbal argument that started in the infield area of RIR that escalated into a physical altercation near the Driver/Owner Lot, Lt. Linda Toney said in a news release. The assault occurred at approximately 11:15 p.m.
Brad Keselowski took the lead on the lap 241 last night and held on to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
The Associated Press reported that the race finished with a skirmish on pit road between the teams of Scott and Piquet. Scott told the AP his team was upset because Piquet ran him into the wall while fighting for 15th place late in the race. "When I went to talk to him, he just pushed and shoved me and then kicked me below the belt," Scott was quoted by the AP as saying. "It's just a chicken move."
Henrico police did not immediately provide further details on the altercation that led to the charges.
Racing History Minutes - April 27, 1980
Stock Car Racing History
The rules makers often don't see very clearly in their crystal balls what circumstances will occur to make their rule look stupid. I believe you're safe from Chase's chrome bumper! I know it took a really deep breath on your part to write of a Jaws' win! Thanks for another very interesting look back.
Deja Vu All Over Again; NASCAR VP Pemberton Earned Record $40,000 & 46 Point 1990 Richmond Fine Costing Mark Martin/Jack Roush Cup Championship
Stock Car Racing History
They say what goes around comes around and we talk about deja vu all over again.
There is no doubt that NASCAR VP Robin Pemberton, the guy in the black hat recently for passing out fines and penalties, knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end. Afterall, he was the crew chief for Roush Racing's #6 Mark Martin Ford when it won the Spring 1990 Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond by 3 seconds over 2nd place Dale Earnhardt..
Following the win, the car failed postrace inspection, although it had passed THREE prerace inspections.
Oh, how I remember that afternoon and evening. Back then the first Richmond race was held in February. I was working my very first race as Media Relations Director at Richmond. It was cold and it had gotten dark. Most of the press contingent had filed their stories and left for home, but those of us left could see Mark's winning car still being hovered around by NASCAR officials in a tent in the infield of Richmond International Raceway.
Suddenly a call came to the press box telling us there was a problem with the carburetor spacer on Mark's winning car and penalties would be forthcoming. They were. The team, crewed by now NASCAR VP, Robin Pemberton, was fined a then record $40,000 and docked 46 points. They lost the 1990 championship to Dale Earnhardt by just 26 points, costing Martin his best career opportunity to win a championship.
If you want to play "What IF?" - then Richard Petty would still be the only 7-Time NASCAR Champion had that points penalty not stood.
Even the Associated Press writer had left when I got the call in the press box and I called him at home to tell him he'd need to revise his story. Same with the Richmond newspaper writers. It was so late that Mark Martin had already gotten home from the track back in North Carolina.
This was in the days before cell phones, but I had Mark's home telephone number on the event entry blank, so I called him from the Richmond press box to get a comment. It was my distinct and UNFORTUNATE experience to be the first person to tell Mark his car had been deemed illegal. He had no comment and I felt like a real chump. That was the worst telephone call I ever made.
I'm in no way justifying NASCAR's recent penalties, but you better believe Robin Pemberton knows what it feels like to lose $$$, points and a championship. He has been there and done that as a crew chief.
For those of you with sketchy memories or too young to have been part of it, one of my favorite motorsports writers, Sandra McKee of The Baltimore Sun did a retrospective piece 13 years ago in 2000, on the 10th anniversary of that incident 23 years ago. Please read up.
If Jack Roush has a chip on his shoulder, you'll see why.
This all happened before Joe Gibbs hit NASCAR. Perhaps Coach Joe should have a chat with the Cat in the Hat!
Scar from Richmond not healed
Penalty at 1990 race nags at owner Roush
May 04, 2000
By Sandra McKee
The Baltimore Sun
Car owner Jack Roush usually keeps his emotions to himself. But with Saturday night's race at Richmond International Speedway looming, Roush had a flashback to a 10-year-old hurt.
The result was a rare emotional display in which the Winston Cup car owner revealed what he considers a long-standing injustice.
"I feel as bad about what happened at Richmond today as I did the day it happened," Roush said, recalling driver Mark Martin's 1990 victory and the penalty that NASCAR imposed after it. "Because of that ... I almost don't care if I never win a NASCAR championship.
"We'll race to win as many races as possible, but my heart's broke. No one deserves a championship more than Mark Martin."
In 1990, NASCAR had a Winston Cup rule that said that there could only be two inches between the carburetor and the manifold. But at the Daytona 500 that February, NASCAR inspectors had allowed teams to weld the manifold so that it would be an inch higher and to put the two-inch space between the carburetor and the manifold. Altogether, it was a three-inch space allowance.
When the teams rolled into Richmond the following week, Martin's team members went to work setting up his car. In their minds, they had three inches to work with. So, instead of creating the extra space by welding the manifold, they simply bolted on a two-and-a-half inch spacer.
Though the car passed three pre-race inspections, it was ruled illegal after the race. Martin kept the victory, but he was penalized 46 points. At the end of the season, Dale Earnhardt won his fourth title by 26 points over Martin.
"Going by the technical word, we were wrong, because we bolted on the spacer instead of welding it," said Martin. "But they were allowing teams three inches and we were within that. It was a situation in which it didn't impact how the car ran. We could have achieved the same thing legally by welding the spacer instead of using the bolts.
"You could look at that a couple ways. I'm not saying it was right or wrong. It cost me 46 points. I can see how Bill France, sitting in his office, is presented the situation. The rule book says two inches, he is told my team had two and a half inches. He probably didn't know the officials at the track had been allowing three inches."
What really irked Roush was that his Ford had passed through inspection three times prior to the race without anyone finding fault.
"The inspectors had sealed that manifold three times," Roush said. "The situation is that when something is inspected and it's OK before a race, it needs to be OK after the race.
"The luster is way off NASCAR's championships," Roush said.
Martin, who is nothing if not philosophical, said in a phone interview this week, that if he were in Jack's place, he would never have brought up the hurt or expressed such frustration.
"It's easy to print what someone says," Martin said, "but it is very difficult to print what someone really means. Jack has worked very, very hard trying to win and he feels he lost the 1990 titleon a ruling over something that he still doesn't feel was wrong. It wasn't a blatant act, like using illegal parts. His team had done what it believed to be within the rules, and had been approved before the races. And, I think, Jack is real mad because I haven't won the championship. He feels I deserve one and personally, I don't care."
In the 13 years Martin has driven for Roush, they have finished in the Top 5 nine times, including three seconds and four thirds. But, Martin said, winning a Winston Cup title is not going to make him a great driver. He believes his record already speaks for itself, having won 32 Cup races and more than $22 million.
"A championship does not define me as a great race car driver," he said. "If I win one, I'll feel good, but I won't feel different. I don't want to diminish the championship. It is the crown jewel, the ultimate success. But don't lose sight of everything else. Greatness is what a driver does week-in, week-out and what they do to stay on top. If you want to play the lotto, good for you if you win, but don't slit your wrist if you lose.
"If I had slit my wrist after Richmond in 1990, I wouldn't have the opportunity I have now to try to win this championship this season."
And Martin thinks he is definitely in the running for the 2000 crown. He is second in points, with at least half of the races that give him and his team trouble behind him. And he is going into tomorrow's qualifying with the knowledge that Richmond International Raceway is one of his favorites.
"Bristol is a short track that provides a great show under the lights, but Richmond gets the award from the competitors as well as the fans," Martin said. "It is shaped and banked and laid out in such a way that passing is not a major problem."
And there is something else different about a night race.
Martin said from inside his car, it may not be as easy for him to see it, but, he added, even he feels it.
"There is something different when the sky is black and the lights pop off the shape of the cars," he said. "Even the air feels different in your lungs. I don't know what it is, but there's that high school football game feeling of excitement even before the race starts."
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
The Race is On - R.I.P. George Jones
General
2005, Nashville, TN - Sound & Speed Event - Two Kings Sign Autographs - photo by Don Harr
| Afterwards, George and Richard signed autographs for all the fans attending |
The Race is On - R.I.P. George Jones
General
81 year old country music singer George Jones passed today. I am reminded of some of my favorite trips on the OLD Winston Cup schedule... the ones I made to the track at Nashville Fairgrounds. We'd drive the Wrangler van over from Greensboro with the kids. They loved the amusement park next to the Fairgrounds track better than the big one at Opryland.
In the land of Marty Robbins, it was George's "He Stopped Loving Her Today" that was played over and over on the jukebox in the lounge of the old Hall of Fame Motel in Nashville where I stayed along with the Bud Moore crew and others.
R.I.P. George. Thanks for the memories. Your race is over.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Michael Waltrip Calls Max Papis "DUMB" as Kyle Takes His 3rd Hamlin Showdown
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Gosh... is the pot calling the kettle black? Add Michael Waltrip to the list of drivers who can't handle a little framming and bamming. Read on for the explanation.
Kyle Busch wins Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown 
Posted: Friday, April 26, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 12:17 am, Fri Apr 26, 2013.
Stock car manufacturers have long held that what wins on Sunday will sell on Monday.
Kyle Busch would rather not wait that long.
Busch won his third Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown on Thursday night, racing to victory in a car he built specifically for the occasion.
Since he doesnt participate in many Late Model events, he joked he was ready to move the new car out of the shop.
The Kyle Busch Motorsports chassis shop hotline is open, he said. Win on Thursday, sell on Friday.
Buschs victory was largely anticlimactic, as he claimed an early lead and held off his only serious challenger, David Ragan.
Ragan, who also drives in the Sprint Cup series, said the 75-lap race to benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation provided a nice break from the grind.
This is my hobby, my golf game, so to speak, he said. A 400-lap race here, youve got to pace yourself mentally; its challenging. But 75 laps, you can just drive the heck out of that thing.
Some drivers took that invitation too literally, as the race was marked by a number of cautions. In the final segment, 16-year-old Ben Rhodes pushed his way into third.
This is his second year on the NASCAR circuit, and he said the nerves of racing against the best are behind him.
Im more comfortable in the car now, he said. I dont feel like I have to perform harder in front of these guys.
Thursdays race was marked by the absence of its namesake. Hamlin stayed involved through the evening, though, delivering an opening address to the crowd and changing a tire on his No.11 car during a caution. That car was driven by Matt Kenseth, who admitted earlier in the day he didnt have much experience in Late Model racing. He proved that by spinning himself out early in the race, though he did finish.
Veteran driver Tony Stewart, the events defending champ, found himself caught up in a wreck early in the night.
The first fireworks flew 20 laps in, when Max Papis crashed into Michael Waltrip, leaving Waltrip incensed.
I dont know who drives the 33 (Papis), but hes dumb, Waltrip said. We probably ought to raise the money for the 33, because he needs it.
None of the drivers was able to challenge Busch, though, whose team delivered the right car for the occasion.
He said the investment was more in man hours than in parts, thanking his sponsors who contributed.
Busch is in position to sweep the NASCAR weekend at Richmond International Raceway, as he will be running in tonights Nationwide race and Saturdays Toyota Owners 400.
Busch completed the RIR hat trick in 2009, the only time it has been done.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:09:31PM