Former NASCAR champion sentenced to prison for meth charges

A former NASCAR Weekly Series National Champion began spending his first days of a three year sentence behind bars in South Carolina State prison Thursday. Robert Powell was arrested last year on charges of possession of methamphetamine. The 50 year old was sentenced by a judge in Berkeley County South Carolina Tuesday to a maximum of three years in a state prison on the meth possession charge.

Powell competed in NASCAR’s Weekly Series from 1984 to 2002 winning 111 races in 328 starts at Summerville, Florence Motor and Myrtle Beach Speedways. He won the Weekly Series title in the Atlantic division in 1988. Powell also competed in NASCAR’s second tier touring series collectively known as the Busch, then Nationwide, now Xfinity series. He entered 15 races between 1989 and 1994 compiling a record of one top five and four top five finishes without leading a lap. Powell also competed in the NASCAR All-American Challenge series, the AutoZone Elite and Southeast series.

State Investigators charged Powell in December 2014 with multiple counts of meth production, distribution, disposal of meth waste and possession. A Berkeley County grand jury indicted the Powell on March 10, 2015. South Carolina Department of Correction records show that Powell was sentenced on a single count of meth possession. MORE>>>

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Greg Engle

Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community.

Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.

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