John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher wrecked, then wrestled and finally threw a number of punches in Saturday night’s Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park.Townley was the aggressor, coming down the track after he and Gallagher exited their respective wrecked trucks on Lap 154, grabbing Gallagher in a headlock and threw him to the ground. They clinched and tossed each other around several times, falling to the pavement again, and then Townley appeared to land at least five punches to Gallagher’s head, while Gallagher appeared to land just one punch in retaliation. None of the safety workers interceded, prompting a lengthy delay before a NASCAR official arrived on scene and broke up the pair. The race was red flagged for a third time so that the track could be cleaned up. Both drivers were taken to the infield care center to be examined for injuries – in separate ambulances.(NBC Sports)(6-26-2016)
UPDATE: Spencer Gallagher issued a statement regarding his role in the incident: ‘I would like to take time to address my actions at Gateway Motorsports Park this past weekend. First, I would like to apologize to John Wes Townley. Additionally, to his team and fans, I am sorry. The incident earlier in the race was not intentional and certainly was not meant to cause bigger problems later in the event. My crew, who have worked so hard to get me to where I am this season, did not deserve to have their night ended in that way. My teammates and all of the guys back at the shop deserve more respect than was shown Saturday night. I would also like to apologize to my team owner, who wholeheartedly believes in this organization and expects all of us to perform at our best at all times, no matter the situation. And finally, I would like to extend a sincere apology to the NASCAR community – representatives and fans. I love this sport just as much as all of you and I am ashamed that I was part of an incident that has allowed so many to view what we do in a negative light.’(GMS Racing)(6-27-2016)
UPDATE 2: A NASCAR executive stated Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that ‘there will be repercussions’ for the incident between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher during Saturday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park. Townley and Gallagher had contact during the race that caused Townley’s truck to hit the wall. They both wrecked in the final laps. After exiting their vehicles, they soon began scuffling, tumbling to the track and throwing a few punches.
‘We’ll look at the all the video feeds we have, we certainly talked to both drivers postrace,’ said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. ‘We’ll have our discussions. We’ll kind of have an evaluation and talk to everyone about where we stand from that. Certainly not our best moment, for sure, two passionate drivers. That’s part of things sometimes when emotions run high, but certainly don’t like to see that to occur when they’re especially on the racetrack.’
‘We certainly like to see drivers who are going to express their emotions be outside of a race car, that’s where we really, really jump in and react when it’s drivers using their race cars beyond what is normal for a race,’ O’Donnell said. ‘We’re going to react heavily when we have to. There will still be repercussions for sure. We want to make sure drivers, if they’re going to do anything, are outside of their car but certainly don’t encourage what happened at Gateway.’ (NBC Sports)(6-27-2016)
