Richmond fence climber arrested, charged: An unidentified fan made it all the way to the top of the catchfence in Turn 4, bringing out a caution during Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400. Richmond International Raceway spokeswoman Aimee Turner said the unidentified fan was arrested by Henrico County police and charged with disorderly conduct and being drunk in public. The fan sat atop the fence while the 42-car field zoomed underneath him at speeds upward of 120 mph. Asked how the fan got past security to climb the fence, Turner said the track will "review safety measures with Henrico (County) police and NASCAR." She said officers were stationed along the fence in front of the grandstands. One of those officers can be seen in photos on social media looking the opposite direction as the fan sits atop the fence. A video shows the fan getting past a cordoned area and climbing. The caution lights did not come on until after the climber had begun his descent, after sitting atop the fencing for several minutes. Police officers surrounded him at that point.(more at the USA Today)(9-7-2014)
Johnson collapses on pit road after race UPDATES: after finishing 8th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, #48-Jimmie Johnson got out of his car on pit road under his own power, sat down on pit road, tried to get up and collapsed due to dehydration. Medical personnel were notified and Johnson was taken to the infield care center on a cart. Johnson was conscious entering the care center.
UPDATE: Per NASCAR's Twitter: Jimmie Johnson has been treated and released from the infield care center.
COMMENTS Team Chevy Post Race Notes and Quotes:
Q) TELL US ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?
Johnson: "Just got dehydrated in the car. Not exactly sure what led to it we will have to dig in and see what happened. I started cramping when I got out of the race car. Then when I was cramping I was trying to stand-up because I was fine when I sat down then I would stand-up I would get dizzy. When I would sit back down I would start to cramp again. Just really dehydrated. Ended up with five liters of IV in me. I was definitely dry. I will have to dig in and understand what happened in the car. I was hot in the car so I will have to make sure all my fans were working and stuff like that. Scary moment and I hate that it happened, but have to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Q) TALK ABOUT NOT BEING ON THE CHASE STAGE AND HAVING THIS HAPPEN FOR AN ATHLETE A GUY WHO IS PROBABLY THE BEST TRAINED. IT WOULD BE ODD THAT YOU WOULD BE THE ONE TO HAVE DEHYDRATION:
Johnson: "Yeah there is something that went wrong today. It could have been my own nutrition plan. I felt like I came in plenty hydrated. We will have to make sure that all the fans and stuff were working in the car. I was warm at the midway point and didn't feel like my helmet fan was working. That could definitely cause an issue."
Q) DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING BAD TO EAT OR HAVE YOU BEEN SICK OR ANYTHING?
Johnson: "No, I haven't been sick. I had a light week of training as well because I had planned on competing in my triathlon tomorrow morning. Well rested, nutrition and all that was there. It is really bizarre that I got hit as hard as I did tonight with dehydration. I will have to dig in and see what happened."
Q) ON HIS TRAINING:
Johnson: "This week has been pretty light just because I'm supposed to compete in an event tomorrow morning. Still going to go and attend, but won't be able to compete especially with the cramping that I had. Just a lot of questions right now, but I cramped pretty bad there on pit road and got dizzy and light-headed and had to come over here and get a bunch of bags of IV."
Q) SO WHEN YOU PARKED THE CAR YOU FELT OKAY, BUT WHEN YOU CLIMBED OUT IT WENT HAYWIRE:
Johnson: "Yeah I sat in the car and was talking to my guys about the run and having a good race. I started to cramp a little bit in my legs so I figured I would just get out of the car and as I climbed out of the car the cramping got far worse. Then standing outside the car I kind of got dizzy so I wanted to sit down. Once I sat down the cramping got worse so then I wanted to stand up. I got up and off the ground two or three times and that whole process got me really dizzy. And had the cramps really kicking so fortunately then I was able to get on the golf cart and come over here and get plugged into an IV."(Team Chevy)(9-6-2014)