ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN SPORTS
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Retired NASCAR star and aspiring politician Richard Petty admitted Thursday he broke traffic laws when he followed too closely behind a speeding car, a practice he used on the track to win more than 200 races.
On the track, zooming along behind another car saves gasoline and is called drafting. On Interstate 85, it's called following too closely - a charge Petty accepted when his lawyer paid $65 in court costs Thursday.
But the case that caused an estimated $25 in damage took on overtones of political intrigue. A Republican prosecutor and members of a Democratic governor's administration grappled over what charges Petty would face a few weeks before his first bid for statewide office. Petty, a Republican, is a candidate for secretary of state.
Petty admitted his 1996 Dodge truck was tailgating the 1996 Mazda driven by James Rassette of Oak Ridge, N.C., as Petty drove home from the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Sept.11.
He blamed Rassette for causing the two vehicles to bump by jamming on his brakes as both traveled at about 70 mph. That was 5 mph over the posted 65-mph speed limit.
``I think he got a little aggravated because I kept running up on the back of him,'' Petty said. ``This was a situation that would have come up with anybody at any time. Instead of shooting each other or throwing rocks at each other, he retaliated by putting on the brakes.
``Now if it had been a NASCAR showdown, he would have been over in the ditch somewhere,'' Petty told WGHP-TV in High Point, N.C.
Rassette, who declined to comment Thursday, told troopers that Petty's truck banged into his rear bumper four times. Petty said there was a single bump.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB