The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident at the Ringgold, GA dirt track
The incident took place at Boyd’s Speedway on the night of February 3rd. The 10th annual Cabin Fever event paid $3,000 to the winner.
On the initial start of the race, Michael Page wasn’t happy with the way he was raced. As the two drivers took the green ownbey got crossed up.
His backend stepped out and Ownbey had to turn left to avoid contact with the wall. This left two feet less room for Page to clear up to the wall.
They made contact, right at the flag stand on the initial lap. Both drivers continued as they wrecked behind them at the 0:17 second mark in the video below.
Watch the full race and post-race altercation below.
John Ownbey went to victory lane claiming the $3,000 check. Page salvaged a podium finish but to say the least, he wasn’t pleased with the way the race played out.
“He’s going to have to watch himself. Cause if he pulls anything like that on the start again with me, he ain’t going to make it passed the flagstand. And that’s for everybody here to hear,” Michael Page said from the frontstretch interviews.
Meanwhile, John Ownbey was holding the checkered flag, standing outside of his car and parked directly in front of Page as he made those comments. When the interview was completed, Ownbey elected to respond and plead his case.
Ownbey was posing for photos at this point. Behind him, Page climbed into his car. But, they continued to exchange words. As another man approached, Page exited his car once more.
Tempers got hot as the crews circled each car. Officials closed in on page in an attempt to calm the situation. but, the opposite happened.
The video doesn’t show exactly what started the incident between driver and official. Though, it looked like it was only words. I did not see any physical altercation initiated from Michael Page. However, Page ended up grabbed then pushed backward and pinned against the rear deck of his race car by the Boyd’s Speedway official.
From there, the official grabbed page by his face and pushed his head back toward his race car. From there, a few punches were thrown by the official at Michael Page. Two more officials joined the scene to separate the official and the racing driver. They bear hugged the official and attempted to pull him off the driver.
Another man drove to victory lane on his four wheeler. A separate official pinned him against the Page’s car. It didn’t appear that any punches were thrown in that second altercation. As he let the man go he yelled, “Get on your four wheeler and go.”
Boyd’s Speedway issued the following statement regarding the victory lane altercation:
“We are currently working with all parties involved along with the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department on the altercation at occurred at Cabin Fever. It is under investigation and we will release all the information as soon as possible,” the speedway stated via Facebook.
Both Michael Page and John Ownbey were not immediately available for comment.
Author: Shane Walters
2018 Cabin Fever Video
Links
Michael Page | John Ownbey | Boyd’s Speedway | Shane Walters
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