Not going to be back at the track for a while after that one.
A wild scene unfolded over the weekend during the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, a NASCAR Regional series late model race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
Caden Kvapil took the checkered flag, with Corey Heim and Treyten Lapcevich finishing 2nd and 3rd. But after crossing the finish line, Lapcevich apparently wasn’t happy with how Heim raced him in closing laps and took a left turn into the side of Heim.
The contact sent Heim’s car flying over the front of Lapcevich and heavily damaged both cars as they rolled onto pit road. And Lapcevich didn’t waste any time in trying to confront Heim over the on-track altercation before being intercepted by his team owner Chad Bryant:
But just a short time later, Bryant himself and several members of Lapcevich’s crew confronted Heim in front of the legendary Martinsville hot dog stand in the infield and started throwing hands, with the driver attempting to remove himself from the altercation before it was finally broken up by sheriff’s deputies.
And here’s another angle:
Not a great look for the sport, but it looks like the sign on the hot dog stand took the hardest hits of the fight. And afterwards, Heim even took to social media to troll the Chad Bryant Racing team:
After the incident, Denny Hamlin took to his Actions Detrimental podcast, calling the crew members “cowards” and calling for those involved to be banned from the track for the rest of the year:
“Those f***ing cowards waited on Corey Heim to leave his car and leave his team, and then jump him while he was on the way to his hauler. I don’t know who’s in charge of NASCAR Regional, but there is absolutely no way that any of those guys should be in a pit lane for the next year, at least.”
(Hamlin is, of course, the co-owner of 23XI Racing, the team that Corey Heim drives for in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning two races already this season before joining the team full time next season).
Well apparently NASCAR agreed with Hamlin, and in a penalty report yesterday came down hard on the Chad Bryant Racing owner and crew members involved in the ambush.
The most severe punishment came for Bryant himself, who was suspended indefinitely and fined $2,000. He will also be suspended from the 2027 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville and will be on NASCAR probation for one year while also being required to undergo anger management training.
Steven Civatarese, a member of Lapcevich’s crew, was also suspended indefinitely and fined $1,000. Like Bryant, he will be suspended from the 2027 event at Martinsville and was also put on probation for one year.
Ryden Lapcevich, the younger brother of Treyten Lapcevich, was fined $500 and placed on NASCAR probation through the end of 2027, while three crew members were fined $500 and put on probation through 2027, with two others receiving a $250 fine and probation.
Heim, meanwhile, apparently took the incident in stride – and even took home a souvenir from the altercation:
Short track racing, y’all.
