Greg Martin’s car earlier this season.
In this day of lower attendance, dwindling car counts, and rising costs, the last thing short track racing needed was another ugly incident. That happened this past weekend.
The Best Plumber 604 Racing Series was at I-75 Speedway located outside of Sweetwater, Tennessee. Forty-two cars made their way to the 3/8-mile dirt oval.
Cory Hedgecock was well in front of the field leaving Greg Martin and Matt Henderson to race for second. As Henderson got underneath Martin, his car made contact with Martin’s car that sent Martin spinning and out of contention for the win. Henderson also sustained damage and headed to the hot pits in the infield.
As a couple of crew members were checking the right side of Hendson’s car, Martin came through the hot pit area, made a left turn, and t-boned Henderson’s car. The two crew members were thrown backwards; one had to be transported to a nearby hospital for stiches on his head.
A scuffle took place as members of Henderson’s crew and Martin’s crew approached Martin’s car who had already backed up and was looking to leave the infield for the outer pits. Following the incident, someone called the local police who showed up to investigate the situation. Police questioned Martin and others before arresting Martin and charging him with simple assault.
In the police report, Martin was questioned about the incident and said a brake line was cut from contact with Henderson’s car. The police indicated a brake line was severed but found no brake fluid on the ground under Martin’s race car.
Video from a drone was released showing Martin’s car veering to the left toward Henderson’s car. Another car was entering the hot pit from the opposite direction. Maybe it played a part in why Martin’s car turned into Henderson’s car or maybe it was intentional. That is for others to decide. Martin has been banned from competing in the Best Plumber 604 Racing Series for two years.
Regardless of the intent, the incident has flooded social media. Comments range from “he could have seriously injured somebody” to “he should never race again.” The story has spread like wildfire. Even a Knoxville, Tennessee TV station has picked up the story.
In a time where the top dirt late model series try to present a professional program and raise the image of the sport, incidents like at I-75 take things down a notch or two. The image of fights among rednecks at a dirt track will live on as long as these situations continue to occur.
Some have argued this incident may draw more fans to the tracks, That remains to be seen. If it takes seriously injuring people to get old and new fans to come to the track, the sport is in a world of hurt. It’s one thing for drivers to fight each other on the front straightaway in front of the grandstands. Some track owners actually encourage that. It’s a totally different thing to ram cars into parked cars with crew members working on them.
Racing is an intense sport. Emotions can run high. Drivers should keep their emotions in check enough not to hit parked cars with people nearby.
