WINCHESTER, Tenn. (CN) - An angry racecar driver ran over an opponent's mechanic in the pits and chased other crew members with his car, says the Cincinnati Insurance Co., which insists it won't pay for the damages.
The insurer says the bizarre incident happened on June 7, 2008 at the Duck River Speedway, in Wheel, Tenn., and that Marvin Parker was convicted of reckless aggravated assault.
Marvin Bobby Parker and Michael Parker were working as the Parker Brothers, when Marvin Parker lost his cool with driver James Lewis after a race and "allegedly did a figure 8 with his vehicle" before driving it back to Lewis' pit area, the insurer says.
Parker tried to hit the owner of his competitor's car, James Smotherman Sr., then purposely nailed the car's mechanic, Chad Smotherman, the complaint states.
Parker then allegedly drove his car to another area of the track, where his brother helped him beat up the track owner, until police officers broke it up.
The Smothermans $6 million in punitive damages, but Cincinnati Insurance says it need not to cover him for a slew of reasons, among them criminal conduct.
Marvin Parker was found guilty in criminal court of reckless aggravated assault and simple assault on May 18 this year, according to the complaint. It adds that Parker "supposedly" was also convicted of two misdemeanors.
If that's not enough the insurer off the hook, it claims that the racecar was not covered under Parker's policy and would not have been allowed coverage because it was custom-built for racing, not for road use.
Cincinnati Insurance seeks declaratory judgment. It is represented by John Neal of Knoxville.
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