Damn I've never seen cars get to the front and then fall back so much ever.

and no DW -- Newman didn't save it. Ya bigmouth

Damn this is awesome. Please no wrecks.

LMAO

Right after that restart 5 different tandems were leading at one point.

Shit, sucks for Blaney

biff may **** up...

Go Bowyer or Harvick. Anyone but Edwards

Holy shit

mother**** me

come on on Jeff!!!

SLING SHOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK BEST FINISH EVER

WOW WHAT A FINISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JIMI JO!!!

UN ****ING REAL

**** Jimmie Johnson, but what a ****ing finish.

arggggggggggggggggggg

Yeah, they'd be timing that all race

Damn it looks like Mark Martin couldn't keep up with Jeff Gordon or else he might have won it.

JIMIJO, CLINT -- JEFF OR JUNIOR

I think that Jimmie owes Dale Jr a race later this year. He's been good enough to win at least one race this year.

I hope Johnson pays jr back in the fall. They ran faster with jr in front.

Great race ! Jimmy owes Jr. One.

That was an exciting finish to this race. . Wow JimiJo

Was JimiJo's left side tires are on or below the yellow line in the tri-oval???

NASCRAP doesn't give a shit.


My boy, Junior pushed Jimi for the win.

I thought Jeff would pull it off.

Harvick was a damn better teammate to Bowyer than Bowyer was to him...pretty weak on the 33~

That Jimmie Johnson is a special kind of guy!

Milk and cookies mother****er~

Why, RedNeckRaider? I missed it.

i'm so glad i found the unfiltered button -- 4 years later lmao

Left the 29 twisting in the wind on a restart earlier. Later they hooked up again and the 33 is on the radio asking Kevin if he was there. Harvick replied I aint happy with you but lets go. He put RCR ahead of getting even~

Jeff should have won that race, jimmi was below the line.

Should move him up in the standings tho

PING!






































Carry on.

If your a Junior fan -- You got to love Rick Hendrick aligning his talented crew chief, Steve Letarte with Junior with this season. The #88 shares the garage with #48..

Letarte helped Jeff Gordon to one of the best seasons in a long time in 2007.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/6...rs-new-success

bleacherreport.com :facepalm:

It would have been no big deal if the 33 would have got on the radio and told him about the switch in advance~

LMAO


THE NEW YORK TIMES: A New Partnership Gets Quick Results for Earnhardt

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/sp.../20nascar.html



too bad the story was bought LMAO

Who did Bowyer hook up with on the restart?

I believe Bowyer's spotter is at fault -- I know the drivers can also cut in on another driver's scanner and make a deal.

He rehooked with Burton which would have been fine if he would have given the 29 a heads up~

Wow that worthless paper is still around?

RedNeckRaider: On the final lap, JimiJo came flying down the straightway, (when cars broke and went 4 wide) with a push from Junior. Bowyer & Harvick were beat, fair and square. J/M/O

Not sure what happened between Harvick, Burton & Bowyer during the restart. Interesting.


http://i.cdn.turner.com/nascar/dam/a...omepage-t1.jpg

Jimmie Johnson got a push by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap and edged Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon by .002 seconds for the victory at Talladega.


Lap 188 -- CHECKERED FLAG: Jimmie Johnson got the push he needed from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win at Talladega. He edged Clint Bowyer by .002 seconds.

Lap 187 -- WHITE FLAG: Jeff Gordon leads at the line, heading to the final lap, with Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming as well.

Lap 186 -- Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle go back to the lead, getting past Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.

Lap 185 -- Dave Blaney spins out, falls out of the draft and his hopes are dashed. Clint Bowyer goes to the lead.

Lap 184 -- Carl Edwards goes to the lead.

Lap 183 -- As the Roush Fenway cars of Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle close in, Dave Blaney continues to lead.

Lap 182 -- Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann have gotten past Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.

Lap 181 -- Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are running third and fourth to Dave Blaney and Kurt Busch.

Lap 180 -- Dave Blaney is back to the lead with the help of Kurt Busch.

Lap 179 -- The four Hendrick cars are running right behind Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer.

Lap 178 -- Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer got past Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin to take the lead.

Lap 177 -- GREEN FLAG: Dave Blaney leads the field to green.

Lap 176 -- Jeff Gordon is up to third, and his teammate Mark Martin will restart right behind him.

Lap 175 -- Juan Montoya has torn up the entire right front of his car and has the remains of his tire flapping in the breeze. He and Ryan Newman hit pit road. Dave Blaney is leading.

Lap 174 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 6: The caution comes out when Ryan Newman spins out on the backstretch.

Lap 173 -- Kurt Busch is now hooked up with Dave Blaney, but watch out: Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are in the top 10.

Lap 172 -- Martin Truex Jr. leads the race.

Lap 171 -- Juan Montoya takes some damage after Ryan Newman nearly loses his car and turns into Montoya.

Lap 170 -- Clint Bowyer goes to the lead.

Lap 169 -- Regan Smith has been pushed to the lead by Paul Menard. Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray are right behind them.

Lap 168 -- A very slow restart for Kevin Harvick as a confusion with Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton left him alone.

Lap 167 -- GREEN FLAG: Clint Bowyer leads the field to green.

Lap 166 -- Clint Bowyer leads, with teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton behind him. Then come Dave Blaney and Regan Smith, each of whom has led laps today.

Jr is currently 3rd in points. I don't know if Letarte is the reason but something has changed. Hope it keeps up.

Thanks. It's a solid start.

I'm glad the 88 shares a garage with the 48. Also, Junior needs to qualify better at some of these tracks -- where position is important.

Steve and Junior's crew plays a pivotal part in the outcome of every race. Where would JimiJo be without Chad Knaus? I don't know.

Never said anything different. What happened was earlier, both recovered and Bowyer should only say sorry and thanks...as he owes the 2nd place to Harvick and in this situation did not deserve it. Harvick put team ahead of personal revenge. I guess Bowyer forgets when he was too chicken shit to sqaure up Hamlin last year and Harvick stood up for the team. I am sure this is lost on those who do not follow RCR but it is just further proof of why Childress favors Harvick over the other drivers~

He didn't pass while below the yellow line. It was legit.
Woooooo-hooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Shit, went fishing with 50 or so to go, looks like I missed a good finish.

After Kyle wrecked it is almost as good as a win for the 99, so I was satisfied.

Yes it was congrats~

WOW! Just watched race rewind, What a finish! Hell I didn't even notice Edwards slipped in there at the very end on the top side. Crazy!

LMAO

Thats ok though, Kyle knows how to get to the front.

Why didn't you go fishing on Saturday?

Welcome back, smittysbar. You were missed! :thumb:

Jr solidified himself with Hendrick today. His poor showing last year made me wonder how long the relationship would last but I think he could stay with them as long as he wants now.

Junior could finish last for the next 10 years and still have a ride on whatever team he chose.

The best race so far this year. Johnson beat Bowyer by 2/1000 of a second. Amazing!

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Today's race reminded me of one of the most memorable NASCAR races, when Ricky Craven went into the "Track To Tough To Tame" and beat Kurt Busch in a photo finish. It's no secret that early in his career, Busch was the most hated driver in NASCAR. When he and Craven battled in the last few laps, banging off each other, you had a sick sense that Kurt would take Craven out. He drove brilliantly that afternoon and raced clean. But for Kurt this race is about maturing and gaining the respect of the fans. Well, that's my recollection.


Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven Darlington Photo Finish

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Gotta love DW -- Boy, can he call a race... lol

Guess I missed a pretty good finish today, no? That synchronized swimming bullshit still sucks, though...

I remember the Busch/Craven deal pretty well. I was certain Kurt would emerge from his car whining and stomping his feet like a 2 year old, but the way he handled that was impressive.

Speaking of Kurt he may of set a record yesterday for wrecking people~

Standings updated in OP

[QUOTE=Dylan;7572919]Today's race reminded me of one of the most memorable NASCAR races, when Ricky Craven went into the "Track To Tough To Tame" and beat Kurt Busch in a photo finish. It's no secret that early in his career, Busch was the most hated driver in NASCAR. When he and Craven battled in the last few laps, banging off each other, you had a sick sense that Kurt would take Craven out. He drove brilliantly that afternoon and raced clean. But for Kurt this race is about maturing and gaining the respect of the fans. Well, that's my recollection.


Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven Darlington Photo Finish

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Gotta love DW -- Boy, can he call a race... lol[/QUOTE

I Remeber watching that race. That was the best finish ever!

April 17, 2011

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fuels JJ's win at Dega
By David Newton
ESPN.com


“That's a helluva teammate to say we're faster with you in the front. Junior made the call, and they did it. They had a plan and they stuck to it.”
-- Rick Hendrick on Dale Earnhardt Jr. ceding position to Jimmie Johnson



TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was wrapping up a pit road interview following Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway when teammate Jimmie Johnson pulled up in his car.

Earnhardt walked over to congratulate his teammate.

Johnson handed him the checkered flag and invited him to join the celebration in Victory Lane.

"He said it belonged to me, but I don't agree with that," Earnhardt said after his fourth-place finish. "I appreciate it. I'll get him to sign it and it'll be one checkered flag that ain't mine."

He's wrong. Earnhardt deserved the flag as much as the five-time defending Cup champion. Without him agreeing that the Hendrick Motorsports tandem was faster with him pushing, without him holding things together in the wildest four-wide, eight-car scramble you'll ever see, Johnson wouldn't have been in the top five.

It was a classy move by a driver who hasn't been to Victory Lane now in 101 consecutive races.

Johnson knew that and returned the class with class.

"Just came to mind," Johnson said of his gesture. "I handed it to him and he said, 'Man, I don't want that.' I said, 'Well, I've got to give you something for the push and working with me.'

"He said, 'No, that's what teammates do.' I smiled and said, 'Take the damn flag. I'll give you the trophy, too.' "

It's not every day you get the flag and a trip to Victory Lane for finishing fourth, even if fourth was only .058 seconds behind the winner.

But in many ways this was a win for Earnhardt. He made the right call to be the pusher in a two-car draft, didn't wreck as he did in February at Daytona -- where two-car dancing took on a new meaning -- and earned a ton of respect from Johnson.

"Man, he's a riot,"Johnson said. "You guys scan all the time, but to hear him on the channel and Stevie [Letarte] and the things he talks about. ... Can I have this channel more often just to listen?"

Crew chief Chad Knaus smiled and said, "No."

"I mean, there's some entertaining stuff going on," Johnson continued. "On a serious note, he was committed, as was I, and it showed today. Neither one of us were selfish and we worked as a group. And at the end, he felt like the 48 car leading was faster; we agreed."

Johnson was proud of that. So was team owner Rick Hendrick. He came to this 2.66-mile facility half expecting Earnhardt to end his losing streak. Knowing how badly Earnhardt wants to win as much or more than anyone, he appreciated the sacrifice it took to play the supporting role at the end.

"That's a helluva teammate to say we're faster with you in the front," said Hendrick, noting this was the first time he left Talladega with four cars intact. "Junior made the call, and they did it. They had a plan and they stuck to it. Every other time I've been down here we had a plan and never stuck to it. It was good to see."

It was wild to see, whether you were in the grandstand, the lead pack or watching on television. But the finish was particularly wild from Earnhardt's view, or lack of view, behind the No. 48.

For the most part, all he saw was a spoiler.

The two actually fell off the pace with about four laps remaining because Earnhardt's motor was running too warm. When they finally reconnected, Earnhardt pushed Johnson past a large group on the bottom.

Heading to the final lap, they were behind the tandems of Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin on the inside, with Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick on the outside and Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle closing against the wall.

Johnson ducked to the bottom going into Turn 3, but Gordon and Martin blocked. Let's let Earnhardt, who did a masterful job of staying on Johnson's bumper, take it from here.

"I had no idea how many cars were in front of him," he said. "I was screaming on the radio for him not to lift no matter what. TJ [Majors, spotter] was screaming and Jimmie was screaming. Jimmie was telling me, 'I might go to the middle.' No, the middle is blocked. We come out of four. He said, 'I'm going to the bottom.'

"He didn't show his hand, which was really smart. He kind of sat in there behind them. We formed a run. They tried to sweep us down. I got into the side of Martin real hard and turned myself sideways. I thought we were going to have a helluva wreck."

Instead, Earnhardt pulled off the save and had enough momentum to push Johnson to a .002-second victory over Bowyer, the closest finish in NASCAR history.

"I didn't know who won the race," Earnhardt said. "I just wanted to get a good finish. I would have loved to have won the race. In this kind of package you've got to make some sacrifices, just like a relationship."
This season has been all about relationships for Earnhardt. He's got a good one now with his crew chief, pit crew and seemingly everyone in the organization. The bond between him and Johnson definitely got a boost on this sun-splashed day.

"I felt better about pushing him through the pack," Earnhardt said. "I felt better about him making the decision we were going to make at the end."

If you remember, it wasn't that long ago that Earnhardt was critical of Johnson as a plate driver. Now he's calling him smart and letting him make the key moves.

Another victory.

"We would have been pushing the 88 if Dale hadn't come on the radio and said we were faster with Jimmie in front," Knaus said.

The sacrifice will pay off one day. Perhaps at the next restrictor-plate race at Daytona in July, Johnson will return the favor. He does owe him one.

But one gets the feeling Earnhardt will win before then. He already has five top-10s, three shy of what he had all last season. He has three top-5s, equaling his total of a year ago when he finished 21st in points.



He's also third in points, 19 behind Edwards and only 14 behind Johnson in second.

"If he keeps doing this, he'll get there," Hendrick said.

Earnhardt is getting closer, and a checkered flag and trip to Victory Lane isn't half bad for fourth place.

"Yeah, yeah, man, points," Earnhardt said as he handed the flag to a member of his staff for safe keeping. "I like trophies, but points are cool, too."

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar...&source=JAYSKI

Looking at that video, it looks like that Mark Martin for some reason tried to block Jimmie Johnson instead of staying on Gordon's ass. Not sure why he did that.

Probably just out of habit. That's the way it used to be done back in the day (last year).

Yeah, but he needed to just push, not to mention the 2 guys he was trying to block were his teammates.

Heading to the final lap, they were behind the tandems of Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin on the inside, with Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick on the outside and Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle closing against the wall.

Johnson ducked to the bottom going into Turn 3, but Gordon and Martin blocked. Let's let Earnhardt, who did a masterful job of staying on Johnson's bumper, take it from here.

"I had no idea how many cars were in front of him," he said. "I was screaming on the radio for him not to lift no matter what. TJ [Majors, spotter] was screaming and Jimmie was screaming. Jimmie was telling me, 'I might go to the middle.' No, the middle is blocked. We come out of four. He said, 'I'm going to the bottom.'

"He didn't show his hand, which was really smart. He kind of sat in there behind them. We formed a run. They tried to sweep us down. I got into the side of Martin real hard and turned myself sideways. I thought we were going to have a helluva wreck."

Instead, Earnhardt pulled off the save and had enough momentum to push Johnson to a .002-second victory over Bowyer, the closest finish in NASCAR history."

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar...&source=JAYSKI

That's all good, but it doesn't really explain what Martin was thinking in letting off the gas and trying to block 48 and 88. It was really obvious that you were only going to win if you were getting pushed. I wonder if Gordon is pissed at Martin for that.

Probably about the best team driving I've ever witnessed. It was evident that Jr could run faster than Johnson and I questioned why they didn't make the switch. It wasn't until post race when Jr said Johnson couldn't keep up with him and he kept having to lift to stay in contact. So it was Jr's decision to push, thus giving up the win.

Doesn't get any better than that.

If it was not for Martin he would have had no chance at all. Hard to be pissed IMO~

You should be pretty proud of your boy. It is not too early to say he is back to being a factor in NASCAR~

This is when they Jimmie & Jr. dove down to the bottom. Jimmie never went below the yellow line. His left tires touched the yellow line.

http://i.imgur.com/mwMLC.png

You can also see it in the video.

"He didn't show his hand, which was really smart. He kind of sat in there behind them. We formed a run. They tried to sweep us down. I got into the side of Martin real hard and turned myself sideways. I thought we were going to have a helluva wreck." Jimmie Johnson

Instead, Earnhardt pulled off the save and had enough momentum to push Johnson to a .002-second victory over Bowyer, the closest finish in NASCAR history.



Kevin Harvick on Twitter:

KevinHarvick dear people the 48 did not go below the line he won the damn race in talladega fashion...roll on with it

I'll bet Johnson and Jr had one helluva party last night.

I've wondered sometimes if anyone tracks this stuff.

http://jayski.com/cupnews.htm

Two records tied at Talladega: Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway tied two Sprint Cup Series records - number of lead changes and closest margin of victory. There were 88 lead changes at the start/finish line, tying an all-time NASCAR record set in last season's April event at Talladega. The final lead change occurred on the last lap - eight of the last 12 Talladega races featured a last-lap lead change. Jimmie Johnson edged Clint Bowyer by .002 seconds, which matches the closest margin of victory since the inception of electronic scoring in May 1993. That mark was originally set at Darlington Raceway on March 16, 2003, with Ricky Craven beating Kurt Busch. Since 1993, every race at Talladega finishing under green - 29 in all - has had a MOV under .400 seconds. Passing numbers - for the lead and otherwise - also were high. There were 159 green flag passes for the lead all around the race track, with a total of 11,025 green flag passes throughout the field.(NASCAR)(4-18-2011)

That part you bolded I mentioned yesterday and somebody here gave me the :spock: face.

Well, I hope you broke off an infraction in their ass. Making faces at people isn't gonna be tolerated here.

I'm sure Jeff is disappointed as well, I've heard he enjoys a little "push" in the rear from older guys, ifyouknowhatimean.

I bet he wishes Mark still drove the Viagra car.

Yeah I suppose some Viagra would've kept him on Jeff's rear a little longer.

As long as you do not gain position below the line you are fine. As far as records how far off is Kurt Bush as far as individual wrecks putting people in the fence....Dylan???

RedNeckRAider:

I am proud of Junior. It's something that's relatively easy to do. There's a reason for this: He values good sportsmanship and traditional Southern charm.

Junior come across as honest, thoughtful and sensitive. He's a class act.

In 2010, Junior was named NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for the eighth straight year. I read it quickly, but he beat out nine other drivers for the award. Here's the catch: 1.5 million people voted him in for the award. Now, think of the other 39 million people who had no idea this contest existed. LMAO

http://www.wheatiesfuelmostpopulardr...ver-Award.aspx

RedNeckRaider:

I find it hard to believe that Kurt Busch would intentionally take out his teammate. I may have missed it -- Drivers didn't complain whether the bump was premeditated and intentional.


TALLADEGA, Ala.—Kurt Busch had a difficult time avoiding chaos in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Three cars—those of Brian Vickers, Brad Keselowski and Dave Blaney—went for a spin after contact from Busch’s front bumper during three separate incidents.

“Restrictor-plate racing and this two-car draft is really tough, and I was in the middle of a bunch of incidents,” Busch said. “I feel bad for wrecking a bunch of cars, especially my teammate, Brad.”

Keselowski, however, absolved his Penske Racing teammate of responsibility.

“We made some great moves but got towards the back in the shuffle and when we did, we caught a big group that just stopped for some reason,” Keselowski said. “I heard that David Ragan blew up—I’m not exactly sure. We ran up on the group, and I just wasn’t able to stop quick enough with Kurt on my tail, and it just spun me right out.

“Just one of them deals here at Talladega. It’s just racing. I just got on the wrong end of it.”

Bayne takes a hard hit

Trevor Bayne, Kasey Kahne and Marcos Ambrose were collected in the incident that took out Keselowski.

As the lead pack of cars headed into Turn 3 on Lap 90, fire erupted beneath Ragan’s No. 6 Ford. As the field began to slow, contact from Busch’s No. 22 Dodge sent Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge hard into the outside wall. Bayne and the others got caught in the wreck.

“That was one of the harder hits I’ve taken, just because it was so much of a frontal impact across the track, off the apron, all the way to the wall,” Bayne said. “I don’t know who got us. I saw the 6 blowing up in front of us, so I keyed up the mic. I’m like, ‘It’s getting crazy in front of me, Greg’—I was on Greg Biffle’s radio at the time. As soon as I said that they blew up, Greg got off of me because I yelled, ‘Blowing up, blowing up.’

“He got off of me and at the same time the 2 car got hooked somehow. I don’t know that they triggered each other; I just saw the 2 get hooked at the same time the 6 was on fire. He (Keselowski) goes across the track, I saw him hit the outside wall, but then I don’t know who caught us in the right rear and sent us. But I thought we were safe. I was like, ‘Man, that was close,’ and about the time I said that I was headed toward the outside wall. So not a fun ride.”


Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/s...#ixzz1Jw7csEtV

FEUD OF THE WEEK: Kurt Busch vs. the field. BUSCH WHACKED

Kurt Busch apologized for the wrecks he was involved in during the Aaron’s 499 on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Will that be enough?

Possibly, but at the very least Busch needs to tread lightly around the slew of drivers caught up in the accidents he appeared to cause in the draft at Talladega. Many of those involved said afterward that the incidents were mostly a product of the restrictor-plate, two-car draft style of racing that the track has seen recently.

But some drivers might be extra cautious around the Penske Racing driver when Daytona comes around in July and opt not to work with him. Or, they may choose to cut Busch no slack in upcoming races.

Red Bull Racing’s postrace news release simply stated “Thanks, Kurt” as both of its drivers, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers, were caught up in wrecks that started when Busch got into the back of another car.

Vickers was involved in the first one when Landon Cassill got turned while Busch was pushing him. Kahne was collected in the second one when Brad Keselowski had to slow down and was spun by Busch, his teammate.

“I was riding around minding my own business and we just got hit in the door,” Vickers said. “It looked like Kurt got into the left rear and turned the 09 [of Cassill], and we happened to be the unlucky victim.”

Unlike his deal with Matt Kenseth earlier in the season, Vickers didn’t vow to take out Busch, but obviously he is tired of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Late in the race, Dave Blaney also had to check up and Busch got into the back of him.

“I had to lift,” Blaney said. “Nothing Kurt could do. It wasn’t anything he did.”

Busch seemed almost befuddled by how the race went down.

“Hell, I wrecked my teammate today just with the front bumper, just me not keeping track of it or it getting too gaulded up with crud,” Busch said afterward. “[It was] just really an odd day. I feel bad for wrecking a bunch of cars, especially my teammate.”

Keselowski said that the wrecks stemmed from the unpredictable nature of the two-car draft as the driver pushing has limited visibility and cannot tell when the driver in front checks up.

The same thing happened when Denny Hamlin spun Juan Pablo Montoya and Joey Logano spun teammate Kyle Busch.

But only Busch found himself involved in three different wrecks.

“My car was really fast all day getting pushed,” he said. “Once I had to push, the car didn’t seem as stable as I needed it to be.”

Busch probably needs to hope that the week off will temper any anger from other drivers and that in the more than two months until the next restrictor-plate race, people forget what happened at Talladega.

The best way might be to not have too much happen at Richmond in two weeks.

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/artic...the_field.html

A class First Inductee to the (burp) NASCAR Hall of Infamy... NASCAR fan

LMAO


NASCAR's France sues ex-wife, claims wiretapping, extortion

By Gary L. Wright - [email protected]
Friday, Apr. 15, 2011

NASCAR chairman Brian France has sued his former wife, accusing her of tape recording telephone conversations to extort money from him.

In a lawsuit filed Friday, Brian France claims his ex-wife, Megan France, recorded multiple telephone conversations with him without his consent. He is asking a federal judge to issue an injunction barring her from engaging in additional "intercepts of wire communications" between the two and distributing the contents of the recordings.

Brian and Megan France have been married and divorced twice, Brian France noted in his lawsuit. Their second divorce was finalized on April 29, 2008.

"Throughout this time...defendant has engaged in a pattern and practice of illegally tape recording conversations with plaintiff, without his knowledge or consent, for the purpose of extorting money and other concessions from plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges.

"Defendant has threatened to disclose these illegal recordings to third parties and thereby damage Mr. France in his personal capacity as well as in his professional capacity as the Chairman and CEO of NASCAR."

Brian France alleges his ex-wife has offered not to disclose the recordings - keeping them private - if he pays her "substantial sums of money."

Brian France has sought to keep the messy divorce and legal dispute in state court secret.

Their state court case began in 2008 when Brian France won a ruling from then-Mecklenburg District Judge Todd Owens, who granted him the right to file a sealed lawsuit against Megan France accusing her of breaching the divorce agreement's confidentiality clause.

Owens placed the entire complaint, including his own order sealing the record, under seal - an unusual move in a court system that typically allows widespread access to courtrooms and documents.

Brian France also sought to have the courtroom proceedings closed to the public.

Mecklenburg District Judge Jena Culler overturned Owens' order and ruled in 2009 that the documents be unsealed and that the proceedings be held in open court.

Brian France appealed. His lawyer has said the dispute between the Frances involves "intensely private (matters) that related to the welfare and parenting of minor children...and private personal financial matters."

The Observer has sought access to the secret court documents and asked that the court hearings be kept open.

The divorce agreement that is currently under seal is what the Frances signed after their second divorce. It stipulates not only the money owed to Megan France, but also custody terms for their young twins and provisions about their upbringing, including that they be raised in Mecklenburg County, according to court filings.

Brian France agreed to pay Megan France a total of $9 million in "distributive" awards, as well as $32,500 a month in alimony for 10 years and $10,000 a month in child support, according to the documents.

In February, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the Frances' litigation should be played out in open court. The appeals court said Brian France had failed to show that his interest in keeping the litigation secret outweighed the public's right to open court proceedings.

The appeals court judges, however, allowed previously filed documents in the case to remain sealed, leaving it to the judge in Charlotte who handles the Frances' trial to decide which documents, if any, should be made public. The judge also will have to decide whether courtroom testimony related to sealed documents should be closed.

Researcher Maria David of the Observer contributed to this report.


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