Crazywade All American 4918 Posts user info edit post |
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2552230
Quote : | "TRACY, Calif. -- A man jumped into a NASCAR race car and tried to drive away before he was stopped by track officials, who didn't know he was an actor and the apparent heist was a prank for a commercial.
Justin Philpott, a 16-year-old NASCAR competitor, was taking part in an awards ceremony at the Altamont Motorsports Park on Sunday when the actor jumped a fence and hopped into his Chevrolet, the Tracy Press reported Thursday.
"I heard my race car start up and slide away, so I turned around and started yelling and running after it," said Philpott, a third-generation racer. "No one knew what was going on."
The stunt was cut short when track officials blocked the car's path with tow trucks, the newspaper reported. Philpott's older brother, also a racer, chased down the car, pulled out the unidentified man and tackled him to the ground. The incident was caught on tape and widely circulated on the Internet.
The "thief" turned out to be an actor filming a scene for a commercial for one of Philpott's sponsors, TaxBrain.com. The Philpotts had not been told about the commercial beforehand, Justin Philpott said.
A spokeswoman for Altamont's parent company, Riverside Motorsports Park, said only a few track officials knew the prank would take place.
A spokesman for TaxBrain.com did not return calls for comment. " |
[Edited on August 17, 2006 at 2:10 PM. Reason : .]8/17/2006 2:10:00 PM |