UPDATE: Piquet involved in altercation at Richmond - MotorSportsTalk

UPDATE (3:26 p.m. ET): Turner Scott Motorsports has confirmed that driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was involved in last night’s altercation at Richmond International Raceway. A statement issued by the team says:

“Turner Scott Motorsports can confirm that an incident occurred near the Driver/Owner parking lot of Richmond International Raceway following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday, April 26th. Several members of another race team confronted a group that included Nelson Piquet Jr., resulting in the arrest of two individuals from the other race team. TSM will have no further comment on the incident as the matter is an active case with the Henrico Police Department.”

USA Today’s Jeff Gluck reports that NASCAR is also withholding comment on the incident, citing the ongoing police investigation.

UPDATE (Sat., 11:45 a.m. ET): Local police have identified the two Richard Childress Racing team members that were arrested following a Friday night altercation at Richmond International Raceway.

Michael Scearce, 50, and Thomas Costello, 35, are members of RCR’s No. 2 NASCAR Nationwide Series team that features Brian Scott as the driver. Scott was involved in a post-race confrontation on pit road with Nelson Piquet Jr. shortly after the completion of the NNS event on Friday night, and was kicked below the belt by Piquet in the fracas.

According to a Henrico (Va.) Police release, Scearce has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault and Costello has been charged with one count. They were both released from custody this morning.

Late last night, the police disclosed that an incident took place at the track at approximately 11:15 p.m. local time. According to them, what began as a verbal argument in the infield turned into a physical altercation near the track’s driver/owner lot and that two adult males were taken into custody.

Shortly afterwards, RCR confirmed that members of its team were involved. In addition, Bob Pockrass of The Sporting News relayed word from multiple sources that personnel from Turner Scott Motorsports and its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., were talking to police in the track’s motorhome lot.

Scott and Piquet had been battling hard for position in the final laps of the race, and after Piquet kicked Scott on pit road, both drivers were subsequently summoned to the NASCAR hauler. Piquet later apologized for his actions.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross