Yahoo Autos Intentional Racing Crash Leads to Fight, Arrest
You expect figure-eight racing to be crazy, but this is something else entirely, and not for good reason. At a Saturday race at Anderson Speedway outside of Indianapolis, driver Jeffrey Swinford drove his car up on to the hood of the #33 of Shawn Cullen. This lead to a fistfight between the drivers, with police stepping in to break up the fight and arresting both.
The IndyStarreports that this mess started on lap 24 of the race when Cullen and Swinford made contact, bringing out a caution. Before the restart, Cullen intentionally hit the back of Swinford's car and spun him on to the grass. Swinford then drove up to a stalled-out Cullen to trade words, before spinning around and driving up on the hood of the #33 car.
Cullen got out of his car, walked over to Swinford's car (still on top of his own), and threw punches through the window. Police then broke up the fight by tasing Cullen, and putting him in handcuffs. Cullen was ticketed for disorderly conduct, while Swinford was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor of criminal recklessness.
Additionally, Rick Dawson, owner of Anderson Speedway, banned Swinford from racing at his track for life. Dawson also plans to discipline Cullen in some capacity, as drivers are not supposed to leave their cars during competition.
"I'm just as thankful as I can be that nobody got seriously hurt," Dawson told the Anderson Herald Bulletin, and he's right. This is an incredibly dangerous situation that's entirely preventable.
Let's try and keep racing a non-contact sport.
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