As expected, there were fairly harsh penalties levied – but no suspensions handed out – for Rowan Pennink and Ted Christopher for their on track aggressiveness and victory lane dustup Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Rowan Pennink offered a massive shot to Christopher’s rear bumper going into turn three on the final lap of Friday’s 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature. The shot sent Christopher up the track and allowed Pennink to pass him for the lead and take the win in the feature.
Christopher held on to finish second. During the post-race victory lane ceremonies Christopher approached Pennink and shoving turned to swinging during a brief melee.
Tuesday Stafford Motor Speedway announced penalties for both drivers.
Pennink was penalized for over-aggresive driving. His penalties included being removed from the handicap system and being forced to start last in the heats and features for the next two events, loss of one tire credit, loss of all practice time for the next event and being placed on probation for the next two events.
Christopher was penalized for actions detrimental to the sport, off track. His penalties were matching the penalties given to Pennink.
Pennink, who has won the last two SK Modified championships at Stafford, was celebrating his first feature win of the season Friday. He is currently fifth in the division standings, 28 points behind leader Chase Dowling with four events remaining this season. Christopher, who has a division leading five victories this year, is fourth in the standings, 24 points behind Dowling.
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Friday Race Story: Punchy: Fists Fly After Rowan Pennink Outduels Ted Christopher For SK Mod Win At Stafford
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The closing laps of the SK Modified feature from Stafford Motor Speedway Friday
TC also needs extra penalties for begin the instigator.
He can only run with 5 pistons for each of the next two events.
Not harsh enough.
The penalties indicate that Stafford knows that it should have taken the win away from Pennink. Because the track let the results stand, it had to penalize Pennink so that it would not be viewed as endorsing his on track actions. And, TC had to be penalized for confronting Pennink with the shove in Victory Lane. Given that Stafford has been publicizing the SK points battle (which includes Pennink and TC, of course) over the past couple of days, it’s not surprising that no suspensions were issued.
Looks like typical passing technique at Stafford ,interesting that there isn’t any video of the assault off track. match race?
Neither one is an angel , teddys just been around longer
Well,this is horse bleep. Pennick was not issued a penalty on the track but now it is aggressive driving four days later? Garbage! If TC didn’t go off nobody would have said boo about the move.
I would like to hear Woody’s thoughts on this tomorrow. Maybe further explanation from the track why the Woodman was suspended when his crew chief got into a fight and potentially cost him a track championship but TC didn’t get suspended for literally the same exact thing. This is a bad look for Stafford. No stones.
Unbelievable!!!!! Rowan did nothing wrong and TC is continuously causing chaos at every race that HE fails to win by his own demise. I think these penalities are insane. Cant wait until TC retires, this is overrated” let Teddy be Teddy”. Baloney!!!!
Typical stafford. They make a joke out of themselves by picking and choosing. Total joke and complete sham. It’s to be expected. They need to somehow explain to everyone in the past how it’s any different then when they were handed suspensions etc.
I guess they are at least up front about how the rules are different for everyone. Total Farce.
SHAME
Every track has rules and I find that each track only sees what they want to see. When you argue about a situation that happened on track. Their answer is never saw it. They move on. It’s all on who you are when it comes to disciplinary. Tracks do what they want to do even tho it’s in the rule book and published in black and white writing. Racing is a joke these days. Makes you not want to be involved in racing. Expensive hobbie for stupidness that’s for sure. Waste of money and time. Racing use to be fun until politics get involved.
Apparently, Teddy has been issued the “License to Ill” at Stafford. There’s one at a lot of tracks……
Pennink gets an aggressive driving penalty, four days later, for a move that gets done all the time, like breathing, blinking your eyes, and a heartbeat.
TC regularly destroys cars and never sees a penalty or warning.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If one is going to be allowed, all need to be allowed.
Being the lead car in the closing laps with a good car behind has always been a tough position in the closing laps of a race, this is what happens. TC has done it as standard operating procedure.
The favoritism is detrimental to the series and tracks.
Great….. now they’ll be bulldozing there way to the front moving anyone and anything in their way out.
I’m reminded of the great Aerosmith hit Sweet Emotion. The penalties go up and virtually no one is happy. Stafford Speedway is the biggest loser in an explosion of sweet emotion. I think that’s good in promotion circles.
There may be some confusion. A race track isn’t the Supreme Court. It doesn’t have to be perfectly fair all the time nor does it pretend to be. It’s decisions don’t have to be perfectly equal to every other decision that has happened at the track over time. Their job is to entertain and make money and suspending one or both of their top draws for putting on one of the best shows of the decade with 4 races to go would be insane. It was the last lap of a great race and assessing penalties at the time was out of the question. They did the next best thing. Wait, let things cool down, assess the big picture, take appropriate action that doesn’t wreck the season. Mission accomplished.
If all sides hate the penalties, they may have been perfectly appropriate. We’ll see Friday how much this little dust up has hurt the gate. Could be the opposite.
Teddy is a great driver!!!!
Rowan is good too
His car is very slow though
Feel bad for guys who try to copy that
Rowan is a good man too
I see two guys who respect each other
I bet Rowan slip of the brake
I don’t think they mean to ram each OTHER
Don’t forget the TC “3 tap rule”… he’ll give you two taps as a warning that if you don’t let him pass, the third tap will move you out of the way.
It’s a good thing TC is a great driver and didn’t spin with that massive hit he took otherwise owen is the winner , think about that ..big difference between a massive hit and the tap that was given to the water head . Everybody hates a winner just like when Geoff Bodine won everything in sight . As far as a fight it never happened so don’t look for vide only a shove was given . TC went over to ask water head if his brakes gave out . If there was a fight water head would be charged with assaulting an elderly person .
One question for the Stafford Management Team. What ever happened to consistency in enforcement of the rules. If one team is penalized for starting a fight in the past why was no one penalized this time? Maybe it really does matter who is involved. I bet if it was sk mod driver Chris Jones involved the penalty received would be different. Really how hard is it to be consistent with the penalties. Sure makes it appear Stafford has its favorites.
2 BAD, I agree with you on TC’s driving and the difference between the hits. TC’s “tap” was a pretty good hit, but Pennick’s was a complete slam! I’m not much of a TC fan, but there’s not many in the field that would have saved that car and still finished second. However, in the winners circle TC shoved, Pennick shoved back, then TC definitely threw a punch (left hook?) that looked like it connected.
“It was the last lap of a great race and assessing penalties at the time was out of the question. They did the next best thing. Wait, let things cool down, assess the big picture, take appropriate action that doesn’t wreck the season. Mission accomplished.
If all sides hate the penalties, they may have been perfectly appropriate.”
Doug nailed it…
I just looked at video. What I saw was Pennick TRYING to block on front straight. Thereby pushing Christopher almost off track. TC then got underneath Pennick in turns 1&2. Pennick then DROP KICKED TC out of the way in turns 3&4. If Pennick would have been penalized properly RIGHT THEN & THERE, no fight. BTW, am not a fan, nor a hater of either driver.
I’m good with everything that happened on the track. It’s racing. The suspension should have been for the post race scrum.
Bad call by Stafford thought fighting was automatic suspension. I’m guessing
Teddy got grandfathered in to avoid suspension. All Stafford did now was ok
fighting the gloves will be off Friday night.
tc showed no class .I am sick of drivers who cant keep these disputes amongst themselves and away from victory lane. agreed this is racing today.. you cant pass clean so ram the guy in the bumper.he essentially kept second. didn’t`t spin..didn’t`t hit the wall.. oh yeah thank god he’s the great teddy anyone else would have been in the fence… he got exactly what he gave period…. he should have brake checked Pennick 3/4 down the backstretch.. but he’s getting old and in his excitement probably forgot that move too…. as for the crews.. gee you cant let your driver handle things one on one.. juvenile at best… I have seen teddy over the years many times in the middle of the pack or even near the front drive thru a slower competitor causing all kinds of damage.. (knowing the end result would be damage ) for that reason alone I will never respect the guy.. never moves up never made the big time for one reason .. no class. its short track modified racing.. he no Evans or Stefanick or Bodine…. not even close to those guys.
Stafford Speedway is the winner !
This will bring many more to the speedway to watch the show!
I cant wait to watch both drivers come from the back (together), and race for the win.
No TC fan but if you were going to do something else Friday you will skip it and buy a ticket at Stafford to watch TC with no practice start last in the feature and see what happens track was smart.
No practice!? Both starting shotgun on the field!? Popcorn please! I’ll be in my usual turn 1 spot enjoying the show!
Same set of facts and circumstance. Now unplug the names Christopher and Pennink and insert the names Chris Jones and Bo Gunning. Now….lay out the penalties assessed . Same same? Hardly.
Stafford is a joke.
Hey Stafford management! You have Brian France running your shows?, sounds like something he’d do . No practice, one tire no handi cap ,really? wonder why your attendance is down!Good job Tom Fox.
Fake news can stir the pot all the time. Big Head Ted never landed a punch, just lots of words and shoving among their own crews. The best part was when Ted tripped on the TV cord, fell to ground and took a couple of other guys with him. For those experts that weren’t even at the track but feel the need to pipe in with opinions, get the facts straight. But then again, why not keep the spin going…
My opinion is Pennick beat TC at his own game, I saw the video of victory lane, TC definately charged at and shoved Pennick, TC then got a shove/punch whatever in return and tripped backwards, TC should have been penalizes heavier if they were gonna penalize at all, but really who the hell cares its in the past now, just two racers doung what racers do best, entertain.
Lucky for water head Billy the bear didn’t have all his toes or he would have squished him like a ripe tomatoe
Lucky for water head the BEAR didn’t have all his toes or he would have squished him like a ripe tomatoe
No practice, down a tire credit, starting scratch. The Hunger Games of stock car racing. I like it.
I’m with Poozer, Racer and Modfan. Friday is a must attend. No practice? If they have to start last in the feature the heat is practice. Pennink said he won on used tires so advantage no 99. Likely not a win for either given the competitiveness of the division but they are starting scratch together so let the games begin. Could the crowds reaction to both will be electric? We’ll see.
All I usually see is a bunch of TC haters but he makes the shoes 10 times more interesting. Nascar won’t suspend these guys for some shoving. Look at the cup serious and all the bs shoving and punches being thrown past few years. Be realistic at least.
the fact is once again pennick was outsmarted by tc at the end of the race as usual. frustration by pennick! and the comment by kelli that pennick did “nothing wrong” tell’s l me u have no clue about racing. what rowan did was an intentional DRILL!, that was no tap! now stafford is going to start them together in the back, is this a good idea or not – we will see.
TC has been kicking butt this year so the competitors need to wall him once to hopefully knock the edge off (old school). Stafford should also pay a bonus$ to TC/Pennick if they win this week (get the most out of this)JMO
If all of the 17,367 people who viewed the video so far all come to Stafford Friday night there won’t be enough hot dogs for everyone.
T.c is fast !!!!!!!!!!!!
Can someone say Stafford could be the next Bowman Gray?
For those of you that are saying Rowan drilled TC as if it was a bad thing, you know that TC would have done no less if Rowan were in the lead and TC was the trailing car. Heck, we all know that Rowan would have ended up wadded against the wall with TC trailing in 2P on the last laps.
It’s extremely funny for me… TC is the same today as he was several years ago. Perhaps he has slowed down his rate of wrecking lately. But years ago, it was expected that he would wreck a couple cars a race, even his own. I would post what a wrecker he was, etc. and people would pile on and attack me while defending and praising TC. I laughed at all of it. But look today, TC is on the receiving end of the fan feedback, and it ain’t pretty. And he isn’t wrecking as much as he used to.
LOL!!!!
This is more of a question and one that likely can’t be answered but here goes. Were the penalties negotiated? Lets face it, these two guys are headliners. Christopher is an icon and Pennink a multi year champion. Is it possible Stafford talked to the teams and came up with penalties that were balanced and that each team could live with going forward. Tongue in cheek references to bonuses while amusing aren’t far off since controversy is just another name for promotional opportunity. Or were they treated like any other case. Take it and continue to race or don’t and never come back. Anyone know?
Dareal’s single minded trashing of Ted Christopher using generic references to unspecific instances of things that may or may not have happened is getting tedious. True, in the 80’s Ted Christopher, Bo Gunning and John Anderson combined for some of the worst wreck fests in Northeast racing at Stafford. Poor Bob Potter escaped the wrecks at times to win championships at the track. In the last couple decades Christopher has garnered nothing but respect from his fellow competitors for his driving ability. Quickest, most opportunistic moves in the game according to many.
Yes he does dent back bumpers. And no one will accuse him of being too good of a sport or a sophisticated speaker in victory lane. But he is an icon in Northeast racing and he earned it.
Many here have started by saying something like “I’m no Ted Christopher fan but”. I’m not either. But questioning his ability and contribution to local racing is cheap and ignorant regardless of what happened last Friday night.
To Fact or Fiction: Just for the record, I finally had a chance to look at some of the video I took on Friday. TC definitely landed a left on Pennick’s right cheek. A little higher and Pennick would have had a shiner! Pennick had a “swing and a miss”. I couldn’t tell what happened with TC’s fall from the angle I had, but it was helped by a shove from Pennick. TC got up and went after him, fists clenched and arms in a boxing position. Penninck was trying to move away from him at that point. Also, before anyone asks, my computer technology is too old to be able to download anything, at least for now.
The age for elderly in CT is 60, FWIW.
The statutory age for “elderly” in CT is 60, FWIW.
Ted Christopher has doubleshot power!
3Case, what is the minimum IQ for statutory stupid in CT?
Thanks Doug
Darealgoodfella is not too smart
We must give him a pass because of this
I WATCHED him pour coffee on a hot dog
This man is off!!!!!
One time I caught him begging for change at the welder truck
I through him a twenty and he waxed my car
BMW of course….ok gotta run my Yoda teacher is coming…….cheese and wine 4 all
“I WATCHED him pour coffee on a hot dog”
That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in years… Jeffrey is in rare form this morning
When I’m done percolating my coffee, I take the percolator out and cook my week supply of hot dogs in the coffee. It’s a historical traditional classic. You mean you don’t know about that?
For shame jeffro, for shame.