Saturday’s short track race at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina ended with a wild physical altercation after a controversial finish. Haymakers were flying after the CARS Tour racing circuit event.
All of the chaos took place in the infield, but it stemmed from what went down on the track.
Ryan Millington actually crossed the finish line first. However, he spun Connor Hall in Turn 4 while coming to the checkered flag and had his win taken away by race control. Ronnie Bassett Jr. was declared the winner as result of the ruling.
Although the decision was controversial, it came with precedent. The same judgement was applied to the Pro Late Model division race at Tri-County last summer when Gavan Boschele’s result was disallowed for spinning Ashton Higgins in the final corner. Like it or not, this is something that happens.
Bassett won. Millington lost.
As the declared winner celebrated on victory lane, a massive brawl broke out in the infield!
Landon Huffman made contact with Andrew Grady earlier in the race and spun him into the wall on the backstretch. The multi-car wreck ruined Grady’s car. It also ended his day. He was furious!
When asked about the contact, Grady called Huffman a “hack” and promised to “catch him after the race.”
Huffman fired right back by telling Grady to suck on his championships.
As Grady promised, there was indeed a physical altercation. Both drivers’ crews were involved in the dust-up, which had to be broken up by officials and another racing team. CARS Tour founder Jack McNelly was also in the middle of it all, at one point shouting at Grady.
Everyone involved with the fight will be punished for their role in the ugly (but entertaining) finish to a great night of racing. Multiple suspensions are going to be handed out in the coming days.