Former NASCAR racer jailed after high-speed chase


Kingman

Kingman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 11, 2006
4,072
Surf City, USA
Updated May 18, 2010 2:34 PM ET
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP)
The driver of a Corvette who is accused of leading deputies in California on a high-speed chase for nearly 50 miles is a former NASCAR racer.

James Neal was arrested in San Diego County early Monday, and the 56-year-old San Clemente resident was booked into Orange County Jail, where bail is set at $25,000.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Jansen says San Clemente deputies tried to pull over the 2003 Corvette for a traffic violation at about 3 a.m. but Neal refused to stop and raced along Interstate 5 to San Diego County at speeds up to 130 mph.

The Corvette's engine blew up in the La Jolla area and deputies arrested him without a struggle.

NASCAR officials say Neal was a NASCAR track racer at the old Ascot Park track in Gardena in the early 1980s. He never won a national race.

.....geeeez, we got yer fruits and nuts here.:thumbsdow
 
Kingman said:
NASCAR officials say Neal was a NASCAR track racer at the old Ascot Park track in Gardena in the early 1980s. He never won a national race.
Click to expand...


And he obviously didn't win THIS ONE either...:frown
 
Maybe he was running from the 'revenuers' with today's equivalent of 'moonshine':ack
 
only 130 mph......:shrug

that is weak :lol a 2003 corvette can do 172 mph. i hit 176 mph on GPS in my 2004 Z06 back when the motor was bone stock......

as for the motor blowing, i am not sure which is more pathetic his lack of speed or his lack of maintenance :slap

i have ditched a motorcycle cop on pavement in my old lifted 4X4 chevy truck which had an extended cab and was rolling on 35" tall tires. they had like half the police force out looking for me and they never knew that i was hiding a block away from the road he gunned me on. i left the truck stashed on the side of a strangers house in a residential neighborhood and literally walked out onto the street in which the cop had radared me on and there were alot of cops driving up and down the road trying to figure out how a redneck in a truck could ditch a motorcycle cop on a BMW without taking him offroad :willy

i bet his fellow officers just humiliated him for that :banana

some outlaws haul moonshine but this outlaw just hauls ass :cool
 
Last edited:
crazy things we do as "teenagers" ....

right Freddy???
 
Kingman said:
Updated May 18, 2010 2:34 PM ET
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP)
The driver of a Corvette who is accused of leading deputies in California on a high-speed chase for nearly 50 miles is a former NASCAR racer.

James Neal was arrested in San Diego County early Monday, and the 56-year-old San Clemente resident was booked into Orange County Jail, where bail is set at $25,000.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Jansen says San Clemente deputies tried to pull over the 2003 Corvette for a traffic violation at about 3 a.m. but Neal refused to stop and raced along Interstate 5 to San Diego County at speeds up to 130 mph.

The Corvette's engine blew up in the La Jolla area and deputies arrested him without a struggle.

NASCAR officials say Neal was a NASCAR track racer at the old Ascot Park track in Gardena in the early 1980s. He never won a national race.

.....geeeez, we got yer fruits and nuts here.:thumbsdow
Click to expand...

i plead the fifth .....

Words of wisdom.

1. It wasn't me.
2. Deny. Deny. Deny
3. Prove it.

All said in jest, of course. :wink
 
If the situation was as shared then I think that his actions are BS and frankly do not want to think about such an idiot driving past me or others I know.

Shadowman
 
A former NASCAR driver pleaded guilty Tuesday to leading sheriff's deputies on a freeway chase that reached 140 mph in his Corvette.

James Neal, 56, of San Clemente was sentenced to a month in jail and probation after entering his plea to felony evasion while driving recklessly.

Orange County sheriff's deputies tried to pull over Neal at 3 a.m. Monday in San Clemente for not having a front license plate on his 2003 Chevrolet Corvette, a minor infraction that he could have settled without a fine, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Neal refused to stop and sped onto Interstate 5, where the California Highway Patrol took over the chase, Amormino said. Neal raced south at speeds of up to 140 mph and quickly pulled away from CHP officers.

"He was going so fast that they lost sight of him," Amormino said.

Because the infraction wasn't serious enough and Neal was endangering other drivers, officers decided to stop pursuing him, he said.

Neal finally pulled over after his engine blew up near La Jolla, 50 miles from where the chase started. Deputies arrested him without a struggle.

"You drive any car that far, about 50 miles, and that fast, it'll blow up because it's not built for that," Amormino said.

Neal was a NASCAR track racer at the old Ascot Park track in Gardena in the early 1980s, said Daytona Beach, Fla.-based NASCAR. He never won a national race.
 
Kingman said:
...Neal finally pulled over after his engine blew up near La Jolla, 50 miles from where the chase started. Deputies arrested him without a struggle.

"You drive any car that far, about 50 miles, and that fast, it'll blow up because it's not built for that," Amormino said...
Click to expand...

I disagree, a 2003 Vette in good condition shoiuld be able to easily run 140 all day long without blowing the engine.
 
Last edited:
There's more going on here then we know. My money says he ran out of gas. We're going on the sherif's word that he "blew his engine." What does he know other than they found him on the side of the road.
I saw the report on the news, and judging from the looks of the inside of his car with random exposed wires and a general state of disrepair, maybe he was low on oil.
But as BlackIce said, even a Vette should be able to run 140 no problem.
 
I think people get the idea when they hear "NASCAR driver" this guy was perhaps a bigger deal than he was. I have been working in and around NASCAR over 25 years and have never heard of the guy. There are a lot of small , regional series around the country and the talent level really varies--some of the guys are awful.

The press loves to boost things. Like always noting when an "SUV" causes a wreck. They love to highlight accidents involving sports cars, Vettes, Vipers etc
 
I go to school in La Jolla! Too bad I missed this chase :(
 
Fast Freddy said:
only 130 mph......:shrug

that is weak :lol a 2003 corvette can do 172 mph. i hit 176 mph on GPS in my 2004 Z06 back when the motor was bone stock......
Click to expand...

I owned a Blk Z06 also, it was a great car for the $. I hit 175mph and was clocked by an Army base wybel radar - that's how I found out how fast I was going. I also got an a$$ chewing from the Col. I had to pick up the beers that night.:willy:willy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom