John Wes Townley issues apology for fight at Gateway; appreciates Tony Stewart’s support

John Wes Townley, who was fined $15,000by NASCAR for his fight with Spencer Gallagher last week at Gateway Motorsports Park, issued an apology Friday morning.

“I want to apologize to NASCAR and my fans,” Townley said in a statement. “That’s not the way I want to represent myself, Zaxby’s or Jive Communications. I’ll try my best to make sure it never happens again.

“I was amazed at the comments from so many drivers who were supportive, most notably Tony Stewart.”

After his Sonoma win, Stewart said: “I’m going to go to Zaxby’s and eat chicken all week just in support of John Wes. Hey, I’m all for it. I’m glad to see somebody had some emotion and actually did something with it. I’m going to live my life through him for this week.”

Townley was scheduled to compete in an Xfinity car this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, but the team withdrew earlier the week.

“Honestly, we went into this season with our sights sets on running strong in the Truck Series and ARCA,” he said. “We’ve always said that. And we, as a team, don’t need to overlook those goals.

“We were getting ready to pull guys off our Truck and ARCA teams to go run an Xfinity race in Daytona. I love racing at Daytona. I’ve won there twice in ARCA.

“But considering that we have a Truck race and an ARCA race next week (at Iowa Speedway), we felt it was better to pour our time and resources into getting ready for next week.”

NASCAR fines John Wes Townley, Spencer Gallagher for fight

NASCAR fined John Wes Townley $15,000 and Spencer Gallagher $12,500 for their fight last weekend during the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

NASCAR issued the fines for the physical altercation and for being on the track during a caution period. Both drivers also were placed on probation through Dec. 31.

They made contact earlier the race, causing Townley to hit the wall. They wrecked in the final laps after a restart. After both exited their trucks, they scuffled, wrestled and threw a few punches before walking away.

Gallagher issued a public apology this week to Townley for the incident earlier in the race and his involvement in the fight. Townley has not issued a comment on the matter.

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NASCAR executive on Townley-Gallagher fight: ‘Certainly not our best moment’

A NASCAR executive stated Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “there will be repercussions” for the incident between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher during Saturday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Townley and Gallagher had contact during the race that caused Townley’s truck to hit the wall. They both wrecked in the final laps. After exiting their vehicles, they soon began scuffling, tumbling to the track and throwing a few punches.

“We’ll look at the all the video feeds we have, we certainly talked to both drivers postrace,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “We’ll have our discussions. We’ll kind of have an evaluation and talk to everyone about where we stand from that. Certainly not our best moment, for sure, two passionate drivers. That’s part of things sometimes when emotions run high, but certainly don’t like to see that to occur when they’re especially on the racetrack.”

O’Donnell told “The Morning Drive” that a key issue is what led to the final accident between them.

“We certainly like to see drivers who are going to express their emotions be outside of a race car, that’s where we really, really jump in and react when it’s drivers using their race cars beyond what is normal for a race,” O’Donnell said. “We’re going to react heavily when we have to. There will still be repercussions for sure. We want to make sure drivers, if they’re going to do anything, are outside of their car but certainly don’t encourage what happened at Gateway.”

Tony Stewart, who won Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway, said he was looking forward to how NASCAR will react to the Townley-Gallagher incident.

“I can’t wait for (the penalty announcement) because I told Mike Helton I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time to see how much you get fined for a fight,” Stewart said, referring to the NASCAR vice chairman. “He laughed at me. I said, ‘Well, look at it this way, I’ve got a lot of scores to settle with people and I’ve only got six months to do it.’ I’ve just got to figure out if it’s economically feasible to do it, so I’m waiting to see what ‑‑ I’ll be the one by 5 p.m. on Tuesday reading every social media thing out there.

“But I’m going to go to (Townley’s sponsor) Zaxby’s and eat chicken all week just in support of John Wes. Hey, I’m all for it. I’m glad to see somebody had some emotion and actually did something with it. I’m going to live my life through him for this week.”

Byron takes over lead in Truck Series standings after Gateway

William Byron failed to earn his third straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in Saturday’s Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Although he finished 17th, it still was a good day for the rookie driver as he jumped to the top of the Truck Series point standings.

Byron knocked Matt Crafton from the top spot. Byron leads Crafton by one point. Timothy Peters is five points behind Byron.

The series’ next race is July 7 at Kentucky Speedway.

Here’s how the Truck Series points look after Gateway:

Ben Rhodes sweeps Camping World Truck practices at Gateway

Ben Rhodes posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s final practice session for the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park with a lap of 135.755 mph. Rhodes also was the fastest in the opening session Saturday at 135.738 mph.

Johnny Sauter was second in Saturday’s final practice at 135.510 mph with John Hunter Nemechek third at 135.054 mph.

Rico Abreu, who crashed in the first practice session, did not make it on the track for the final session. His team was busy preparing the backup. He will have no laps on that vehicle at Gateway when he qualifies at 5:45 p.m. ET today. The race is at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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Saturday schedule for Sprint Cup, Camping World Truck Series

The Sprint Cup Series has a light day with only qualifying at Sonoma Raceway, but the Camping World Truck Series has a full schedule at Gateway Motorsports Park with practice, qualifying and the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

Here’s today’s schedule:

All times are Eastern

Sprint Cup Series

(Sonoma Raceway)

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; multi-car/two rounds (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Camping World Truck Series

(Gateway Motorsports Park)

8 a.m.  – Truck garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

11: 30 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.  – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Drivin’ for Linemen 200; 160 laps, 200 miles (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

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NASCAR’s weekend schedule at Sonoma, Gateway

After a week off the Sprint Cup Series returns this weekend with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Meanwhile, the Camping World Truck Series is still in the Midwest as it visits Gateway Motorsports Park for its Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

Here is the full weekend schedule for both series, including TV and radio times.

All times are Eastern.

Sonoma Raceway

Friday, June 24

11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

3 – 4:55 p.m – Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

6:30 – 7:55 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1)

Saturday, June 25

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; multi-car/two rounds (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday, June 26

10 a.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens

1 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

2:30 p.m. – Driver introductions

3 p.m.  – Toyota/Save Mart 350; 110 laps, 218.9 miles (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Camping World Truck Series

Saturday, June 25

8 a.m.  – Truck garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

11: 30 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.  – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Drivin’ for Linemen 200; 160 laps, 200 miles (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Entry list for Truck series race at Gateway Motorsports Park

The Camping World Truck Series has a standalone race this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois.

There are 34 trucks on the initial entry list for the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

With the Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway, there are no Cup drivers entered into the race.

Cole Custer is the defending winner at Gateway, which has hosted 15 Truck races since 1998. This will be the third Truck race after a three-year absence.

Rookie William Byron will seek to win his third race in a row. That hasn’t been done sinceKyle Busch – who owns Byron’s truck – did it at Kansas, Charlotte and Dover in 2014.

Entry list 

BYRON WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE TRUCK SERIES RACE

RELATED: Complete race results | Updated Chase Grid

NEWTON, Iowa -- Following his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the season last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron used a late race restart and three-wide pass to charge from fourth to first to win Saturday night's Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.

Byron, driving the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, swiped the lead from Cole Custer on a restart with nine laps remaining, but a caution six laps from the finish saw the Charlotte, North Carolina, native have to defend his presence at the front.

In a two-lap shootout, the 18-year-old Byron fended off challengers Custer and Cameron Hayley for a series-high third win in just his ninth Truck Series start.

"My gosh, it's awesome just to be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and to have the group of guys I do," said Byron from Victory Lane. "It's amazing. I'm so fortunate to be in this position.

"We had a couple setbacks there. I stalled it on pit road and I had a few setbacks on some restarts, but we kept after it until that last restart. It's awesome."

Custer, with new crew chief Marcus Richmond, led three dramatic laps following a Lap 188 restart which saw the race lead exchange several times before Byron sailed away permanently on Lap 191.

"For the first 10 laps or so, the others were probably better than us on four tires," said Custer, who recorded his season best finish. "After that it kind of equaled out. I thought I had them there when I took the lead.

"I can't thank Marcus and everyone enough. They worked their tails off all weekend. I really appreciate that. I think we're going in the right direction."

Byron, who led a race-high 107 laps, took the lead from pole sitter John Hunter Nemechek on a Lap 54 restart and led until the event's third caution.

The running order changed dramatically following a caution on Lap 146 when five teams elected to take two tires during the final pit stop, handing the lead to Tyler Reddick.

During the stop, Byron stalled his truck leaving pit road putting him 10th on the restart. Using four tires to combat his mistake, the NASCAR NEXT alumnus began carving his path through the field and found himself back in contention when the fourth yellow of the night waved just 24 laps from the checkered flag.

The event was red flagged for five minutes, 46 seconds for track cleanup after an incident involving Caleb Holman and Derek Scott Jr. on Lap 174 .

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the running of the third annual Drivin' for Linemen 200 on Jun. 25.