(Truck Tour Race 3) Albuquerque

Elite Series driver Halks rips "insanely stupid" aggressive driving that took place in Truck race

Jon Halks and a few of his fellow FARC Elite Series driver gathered at an Albequerque Grease Burger restaurant to sign autographs for fans and watch the companion LoBo Truck Tour race on a big-screen TV in the dining area with them.

Halks, who has been the victim of overly aggressive driving in his brief career in FARC (formerly ARLA), though he isn't completely blameless himself (and will be the first to say so), saw his mood sour with the incredibly aggressive driving that was taking place, particularly from fellow Elite Series driver Kevin Monroe.

Halks was irked by the lap 15 incident that brought out the race's first caution. Monroe, leading the race, turned the lapped truck of Dale Clough onto the apron in Turn 1. Clough came back up the track right into the path of Monroe's M&J Racing teammate, and another Elite Series colleague of Halks's, Taylor Brillon. Brillon had nowhere to go, and plowed into the back of Clough, ending her race.

A perturbed Halks threw up his hands, and asked, "Why would you do that?"

Monroe would eventually run into problems, handing the lead to Billy Ray Smith-Thompson. Smith-Thompson cut through the field, gapping the field by an incredible two laps. But the race's defining moment occurred on lap 74.

Smith-Thompson got stuck behind the lap truck of series point leader Richard Scott. Showing an incredible lack of patience, Smith-Thompson turned Scott onto the Turn 1 apron, only to have Scott come right back up the track into Smith-Thompson, sending the 42 truck hard into the outside wall and into a barrel roll. Amazingly, Smith-Thompson's truck didn't have terminal damage, and he only lost one lap on his lead to Monroe on pit road. On the race's final restart, Monroe took his lap back from Smith-Thompson, and cut into the lead until the final corner, being beaten to the line by the nose of the 42.

When the crash occurred, Halks was signing his bio page in a young boy's copy of the 2014 FARC Elite Series Fan Guide. He heard an adult male fan remark, "Oh, boy" when Smith-Thompson got close to Scott, and looked up just in time to see the accident. Halks stopped in the middle of his signature, leaned back in his chair, let out a big sigh, and said, "You gotta be kiddin' me!", before finishing up his autograph for the boy.

After the race, local media gathered to get Halks's thoughts on the race. In his usual manner, he didn't mince his words.

"I can't believe the manner of driving that took place, and has been taking place there all week long. And it's Turn 3 where people are being shoved onto the apron. Kevin [Monroe] normally doesn't drive like he did today. He was hitting everything in sight, like he left the gas on at home, and was trying to get back before the explosion."

Halks's strongest words were for the race winner.

"You have a two-lap lead, and you put the race in jeopardy by driving like that? I don't give a damn if he won; if he were my driver, I'd have given him a warning after what he did."

Halks says he's aggressive when he needs to be.

"I'll bump somebody for a position in the main race, or for the win, and I understand take no prisoners, but, jeez, we're out here wrecking each other every week. It's got to stop. FARC punishes people for rough driving after a race, not during. TM Master Cup officials would never put up with 90 percent of what takes place out here. That's what makes that series the best in the world."