Truck Series Fist Slingin' Earns Penalties

I didn't get a chance to watch last weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but I certainly heard about the melee that took place after the race on pit road.

If you missed it, the tiff was a result of David Starr making contact with both Germain Racing Toyotas -- Todd Bodine and David Reutimann -- during the race. Tempers flared when Starr pulled to pit road after the event and both Germain pit crews surrounded his truck.

Bodine's crew chief Mike Hillman Sr. was apparently the ring leader of the whole brouhaha, and pulled Starr from his own truck which, naturally, got Starr -- a Texan -- pretty riled up. Starr started swinging (he appeared to connect on at least three shots) and everyone started scuffling. (Watch the video further down this post!)

In other words, it was an ending to a race that the Truck Series -- that's been somewhat struggling in 2008 due to a variety of reasons -- needed to gain some more exposure.

Unfortunately for the teams involved, it meant NASCAR penalties on Wednesday.

The biggest was a one-race suspension given to three crew members, including crew chief Hillman. A few other ticky-tacky monetary fines were handed out as well as probation for all three teams.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- the site of the Truck Series' next race on Saturday night -- wasn't lost on the action and decided to turn this rumble into a promo opportunity for the track by inviting the teams involved to "settle the score" with a tug-o-war in the infield prior to the race this weekend.

A little lame? Perhaps. But who knows, it might just turn into a tug-o-war gone bad and we'll end up with another controversey that spills on to the infield grass. It may be a little less than classy, but hey, hockey can do it, right?

Now for the video: