Fight erupts after NASCAR Truck race
09/14/08 Here is a video of the fight.
09/13/08 A postrace fight involving NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver David Starr and crew members from Germain Racing marred the ending of the Camping World RV Rental 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Starr was involved in on-track incidents Saturday with Germain’s Todd Bodine and David Reutimann, and Germain crew members were waiting for the Red Horse Racing driver when he arrived on pit road.
One of Bodine’s crew members unhooked Starr’s window net and leaned into his truck, pointing his finger. Starr became incensed and felt he was forced to defend himself.
“I think somebody spit on me, and when I saw somebody spit on me, I was just protecting myself," he said. “I don’t mind it if a driver wants to come over and talk to me, but when somebody else comes and puts my window net down and puts their finger in my face and is cussing me and spit on me, well then we’ve got a problem."
Starr climbed from his truck as more crew members arrived on the scene, and video replays appeared to show him connecting on at least two punches to the face of the crew member who took down the window net.
Bodine’s crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. appeared to have a mark on his face but twice declined comment on the incident.
Starr, crew chief Rick Gay, Hillman Jr. and three other Germain crew members were called to the hauler to discuss the incident with officials. Members of both of Germain Racing's crews were involved.
There was no immediate comment on NASCAR regarding any penalties. Bodine never was involved in the fight. He waited in his truck for a few minutes, got out and then sat down on the pit-road wall.
“My crew was upset," Bodine said. “They deserve to be. It wasn’t one truck, he wrecked both of our trucks. One thing about Germain Racing is everybody works on everything from Mike Wallace’s Geico Camry in Nationwide to both of these trucks to our ARCA car that Sean Caisse is driving in Salem tonight.
“Everybody works on everything. Everybody takes it personal when somebody wrecks their vehicle, and he wrecked both of ours today. One guy. The same guy and he did the same mistake both times."
Bodine said Starr was a “good person" and a “great guy to hang out with."
“There’s nothing wrong with David," he said. “He just made two mistakes today."
But Starr insisted it was Bodine who made the mistake, turning down across his nose, and resented Bodine’s suggestion that Starr was driving over his head.
“We trade paint, we beat and bang and we bump each other but we don’t take each other out," Starr said. “We’re good friends but friends stop when they’re cutting you off and doing that kind of stuff. That was ridiculous.
“For him to accuse me of driving over my head is just crazy. I backed off early, he did give me the bottom lane but he cut down into my lane." Scenedaily.com