The Henrico County (VA) Sheriff’s
Office continues to investigate an incident at Richmond International Raceway
Friday night that resulted in two Richard Childress Racing crewmen being arrested
and charged with misdemeanor assault.
A scuffle occurred on pit road after RCR driver Brian Scott tangled
with Nelson Piquet, Jr. on the final lap of the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR
Nationwide Series race. Their cars made contact again on the cool-down lap, and
words were exchanged on pit road following the race. Piquet appeared to kick
Scott during a shoving match involving members of both teams, before NASCAR
officials were able to restore order.
Sources familiar with the investigation say two members of Scott’s
team, Michael Searce and Thomas Costello, waited for Piquet outside the track’s
access tunnel and confronted him again after the race, with a number of punches
thrown. Piquet was able to escape the attack, but an unidentified Brazilian photographer
assigned to cover the Turner Scott Motorsports driver was reportedly knocked to
the ground and kicked repeatedly, causing injuries that required him to be
hospitalized until Sunday morning.
Police were called to the scene, and Searce was charged with two
counts of misdemeanor assault. Costello was booked on a single count of
misdemeanor assault. Both men were released early Saturday morning.
Nice scoop on getting the info that an "innocent", the photographer, was beat to the ground and got the boots put to him. I wonder how deep the Henrico cops and DA will go into this. It'd be one thing if the vics were Piquet Jr. and a crew member of his, it's another when a civilian gets injured. I thought from the getgo that Childress put his two thug mutts up to it, if true that would be a scandal. We know Childress has a temper, just ask Kyle Busch. Seriously, I hope these two mutts (that's what they amount to) get the book thrown at 'em. I'm surprised they haven't been suspended/banned from the track already. In the civilian world the allegations constitute workplace violence. Again, good scoop.
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