NASCAR: Former Cup owner Ron Devine indicted

Former Cup owner Ron Devine was indicted Wednesday of four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

The indictment against Ron Devine, former owner and president of BK Racing, was announced today by Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Devine faces four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The indictment alleges that Devine “failed to pay over more than $390,000 in payroll taxes due to the IRS” in 2017. It also claims that he “caused BK Racing to fail to account for and pay over hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes” beginning in 2012.

A news release on the indictment stated that Devine, 67, faces “a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts in the indictment.”

The 67-year-old Devine was the primary owner of BK Racing, which fielded a Cup entry from 2012-18. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the team 72 hours before the 2018 Daytona 500, shortly before a bank was to begin court proceedings to request it operate BK Racing and seek a preliminary injunction to prevent him from selling or leasing the team’s charter. The bank claimed that the team owed more than $8 million in outstanding loans.

Later that year, the bankruptcy court sold his team’s charter and assets for $2.08 million. Front Row Motorsports purchased the charter and assets.