09/10/2026
Merritt Speedway update and their side after cooler heads prevail.
What a last four days it has been.
Honestly, I have no words that can fix what has happened over the past four days.
Many of you have let me know your frustrations and anger toward me. At the same time, many of you have also reached out to show your support, and I truly appreciate that.
I am also receiving death threats over a Facebook post and/or racetrack conditions, and I believe that has gone way too far. No promoter, racer, or fan should ever have to deal with that.
It may be time for me to seriously rethink the future of Merritt Speedway.
I am making one last post to clear things up. After this, we are moving on from this subject. I will be staying off Facebook for a while as we take some time to decide what we are going to do moving forward.
I want to start by saying that, up until Saturday night, my relationship with Eric Spangler was one of the best relationships I have had with anyone in the pits. I have always respected Eric and have told people many times that it was a privilege to have him race at my track.
Eric has always been someone who would come to me privately and let me know both the good and the bad.
If you were at the racetrack Saturday night when the red flag came out, you saw me walk to Eric's car.
His words to me were, "We have to stop this race. It is too dangerous."
He told me he didn't care where Harnick was or what was happening with the championship. He said we needed to cancel the race at Merritt Speedway for the safety of the drivers and do what is best for Merritt Speedway’s reputation.
I then talked to five other drivers, and they all said essentially the same thing. One driver wanted us to try one more restart single-file, but for the most part, everyone wanted the race to end.
At that point, we figured out what we were going to do with the drivers. We decided to split the purse between all of the drivers. There would be no finish points awarded for the race and no official race finish.
I did not steal a championship from Eric Spangler. Eric told me himself that he did not want to race.
I then went straight to the tower and called Jeff Finley. We were all in agreement that we were going to end the race, split the purse, and move on.
I stayed at the track until around 2 a.m. While I was there, Eric Spangler Racing's post popped up on my phone.
I was surprised that Eric, of all people, posted that, especially considering the history and relationship we have had. I had done exactly what he asked me to do at the racetrack.
The first thing I did was text Eric and Roxanne and ask them to take the post down. In my opinion, it was not a good look for a driver to respond that way, and I felt it made the situation worse for the track. We were trying to do what was best for Merritt Speedway, just as Eric had asked us to do.
Then came Sunday morning.
We had to give an explanation of what happened and how things ended up the way they did.
What Eric posted about the track being opened was correct. The track did get opened up, and it wasn't closed again until after we received all of the rain.
And, of course, being me, I made the decision to suspend Eric and Roxanne. All I can say about that is I am sorry.
It was an overreaction on my part because of how hard everything had hit me emotionally, and it should not have happened.
After the day was over, I realized how wrong that decision was. I deleted my post about Eric and did not follow through with anything I had said I was going to do regarding Eric and Roxanne.
With that being said, yesterday Eric was paid his money in full. The points were updated; he finished second in the standings, and I did not file a trespass against him or Roxanne. I also do not plan to.
I also want to clarify why Roxanne is involved in this situation. Eric does not use Facebook, so the posts from the Eric Spangler Racing page are made by Roxanne. Eric may have input on what is posted, but ultimately, Roxanne is the one making the posts.
As you can see, she is still making posts even though Eric received his points and his full payout, and I feel those posts are giving people the impression that he did not.
No words and no actions are going to completely fix the damage that has been done over the last four days.
I will take 100% responsibility for the track conditions. I will take 100% responsibility for my response to the Eric Spangler post.
But I am not going to take responsibility for anything that would justify death threats. Nothing that happened at Merritt Speedway this weekend deserves that kind of response.
No promoter, racer, or fan should ever have to go through that.
The saddest part of all of this is that it is overshadowing a hard-earned championship won by Austin Harnick.
Both drivers finished second in their heat races, and everyone received 25 points for showing up to the track that night.
Austin earned his championship, and that accomplishment deserves to be recognized.
Eric Spangler has been a staple of Merritt Speedway, and he always will be. His dominance and his long history at this track mean a lot to the history of Merritt Speedway.
I will always greatly respect Eric and appreciate the time we have had together at Merritt Speedway. I wish him the best of luck going forward.
As for the future, those decisions will be made over the coming months.
To everyone who has stood up for us, supported us, reached out, or simply tried to understand our side of things — thank you. It means more than you know.
For now, we are going radio silent for a while. We need some time to step away from Facebook, take a breath, and figure out what comes next.
We appreciate all of you who continue to support Merritt Speedway.
We will provide an update as we move forward in the coming months.
Thank you.
