Watch a Yellow Flag Turn Into the World’s Dumbest Demo Derby
None of the decisions made here were anything that remotely resembles “good decisions.”
Races at Bowman Gray Stadium are famous for their intensity, but this viral crash from "the Madhouse" goes above and beyond the usual lack of chill. Racers Amber Lynn and Casey Kepley Jr. decided to turn a full-course yellow flag into a demo derby, and it got wild.
Lynn's onboard is what went viral, and I daresay both drivers take "bad decisions" to the dumbest possible end. Kepley places his car in front of Lynn's and brakes hard, at which point Lynn hits him. Kepley moves forward a bit, then backs up to hit Lynn's car and pushes it backward. That's when Lynn goes into retaliation mode and the scene—still under a full-course yellow to clean up a prior incident—devolves into a two-person game of bumper cars.
A longer cut from the race broadcast shows the incident that spurred this spat. Kepley's No. 8 car had a promising run going only to be spun out by the No. 22 car. Amber Lynn's No. 2 then drove into Kepley's car as Kepley was trying to rejoin race traffic.
That's certainly frustrating for both drivers, but it happens. No need to get bent further out of shape about it, right?
Well, this is Bowman Gray. Lynn isn't a stranger to fighting at Bowman Gray, either, and the race's announcers still refer to her "hot temper," going back to another viral incident at Bowman Gray from 2019 where Lynn was arrested and charged with assault after a fight involving her ex-boyfriend. The charges were later dismissed, per the Winston-Salem Journal, but the commentators still reference it. According to Short Track Scene, track announcer Randy Pettitt coined the nickname "Amber 'TKO' Lynn," and this latest on-track incident doesn't do anything to move on from that.
Lynn defends her behavior in the description of her onboard on Facebook, writing:
We are proud. We are proud for standing up for ourselves on and off the track. We are proud to come together as a team and laugh it all off. We are proud no matter what.
But we are also confused. How can a “driver” pull out in front of me and slam on brakes then throw it in reverse like I had time to stop? Cute. Why can a person from another team lay hands on my crew and think nothing will happen? Cute. I personally am confused on when I pulled the sex card as well. There are multiple interviews you can listen to where I have stated when we throw on helmets you’re neither man, woman or whatever you want to identify as.
Yet to say that engaging in this kind of smash-'em-up bumper cars under a yellow flag is a bad idea would be the understatement of the century. You and the driver you're angry at may be in cars protected by roll cages and the wonders of modern-day safety gear, but the crews cleaning up whatever mess started the yellow flag are not. It's not just inconsiderate to add to the mess they have to clean up, but downright dangerous, should you get blinded by rage and/or radiator steam to the point where you can't even see the workers on track. It's unclear if the drivers have been disciplined for their on-track antics, but it wouldn't be a bad idea for both to sit in time out for a few.
Bless their hearts.
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