NASCAR drivers throw fists on track during Truck race at Gateway

John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher fight during the truck race at Gateway Saturday night.
John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher fight during the truck race at Gateway Saturday night.
John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher fight during the truck race at Gateway Saturday night.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck series race at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis Saturday night featured great racing, huge crashes and a fight between two drivers that ended with fists being thrown and the two rolling across the track. Rain cancelled qualifying and delayed the start of the race for the second year in a row and it ended early Sunday morning on the east coast.

The race featured three red flags. The first came on lap 120 for a three truck incident on lap 120 when Jordan Anderson and Austin Wayne Self got together exiting turn 3. The trucks slid down the track and the truck driven by Jennifer Jo Cobb hit the truck of Self hard. All three drivers were fine but NASCAR was forced to stop the field to clean up the massive amount of debris from the accident. That red flag period lasted just over six minutes.

Then 11 laps from the scheduled distance, Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek got together entering turn 3 while racing for position.  They ensuing melee involved a total of seven trucks including Matt Crafton who hit the wall hard on the driver’s side. He was visibly shaken but was able to collect himself after a few moments.  He was later checked and released at the infield care center.  The red flag was again displayed for nearly 11 minutes.

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Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
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.