ROUGEMONT, N.C. :: Following a lap 42 incident involving Ryan Wilson, Chase Purdy, and Craig Stallard, Wilson threw multiple punches at Purdy as his car continued around the track under caution at Orange County Speedway.
The incident followed an intense battle between the two drivers, dueling for seventh place in the 100-lap Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour feature. Wilson held the position by defending the high line around the 0.375-mile circuit, while Purdy attempted to pass on the inside.
The two machines made contact on lap 42. Purdy continued, largely unscathed, but the incident destroyed Wilson’s machine and collected Craig Stallard as an innocent bystander.
Following the crash, Wilson unstrapped from his machine and walked onto the racing surface under caution. When Purdy arrived on the scene, Wilson walked in front of Purdy’s car to stop him before moving to Purdy’s window, pulling down the protective window net, and throwing several punches through the window at Purdy.
Purdy had little to say about the ordeal, focusing instead on his seventh place finish in the race.
“Not a whole lot to touch on that subject,” Purdy said. “It is what it is. Next week is a new week. The car was really fast, we just got in that battle with the 12 [of Wilson] and kinda used up our stuff a little bit.”
Wilson explained that his frustration stemmed from how their on-track battle escalated. Wilson believed he gave plenty of room to Purdy and was unfairly dumped.
“I feel like he was probably a little faster than us,” Wilson said. “We just happened to get lucky and get by him on the restart on the outside. We ran side-by-side for I don’t know how long, ten, fifteen laps or more. I feel like I gave him plenty of room. He just kept getting in my left-rear a little more, a little more, a little more.”
“Finally, he just drove in there,” Wilson continued. “I had three or four people tell me he drove in there. Thing was bouncing on the rev limiter, never backed off of it, just straight in my left rear. It just killed the car.”
Wilson showed contrition for his behavior after the incident, admitting he made a poor decision in leaving his car in the heat of the moment.
“I let my emotions get the best of me. I probably shouldn’t have gotten out of the car,” Wilson said. “I probably should have sat there for a minute and gathered my thoughts. It is what it is. I can’t change the past now. ”
Following the ordeal, Purdy continued in the race. While he couldn’t have expected getting punched to be part of the 100-lap race, he quickly set the moment aside and focused on the race.
“You’ve just got to move past it. You’ve really got to get your head back in the game. Especially here, tight, close racing. Small short track, everybody is bumping and grinding. It’ll be alright.”
As for Wilson, his plans for the season were muddled by the crash, as he lost the car he planned to use for the remainder of the season.
“It really sucks. This is our best car,” Wilson said. “This is the car we were going to take to Martinsville. This is the car we were planning to run the rest of the year. I don’t really know what our plans are for the rest of the year, moving forward.”
