DILLON, SC :: Jeff Batten has spoken out in a statement released to RACE22.com after Saturday’s controversial Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Carolina Clash at Dillon Motor Speedway. Batten was parked in the closing stages of the 50 lap PASS Pro Late Model feature after a couple of incidents with competitor Jacob Schneider.
Following the incident, Schneider spoke to RACE22.com where he said, “He’s been racing for about two or three years, this is only my second race. I guess that makes a problem since I’m outrunning him. He just hooks me on the outside wall intentionally on the restart. I don’t know.”
When asked if the incident was retaliation for an earlier incident between the two where Batten had been spun out of the lead, Schneider said, “He hit me last week too so I’m not sure what he’s crying about.”
Batten had worked his way to the lead in Saturday night’s race and was spun out of the lead off of Schneider’s front bumper, relegating him to the rear of the field. A handful of laps later, the two drivers tangled again taking Schneider out of the race. At that point, PASS officials parked Batten for aggressive driving and disqualified him from the event. RACE22.com attempted to get an interview with Batten after speaking with Schneider but crew members kept us away, saying Batten had no comment at the time.
Batten expressed frustration on social media over his account of the incident not being aired. RACE22.com again reached out to Batten – this time being able to speak with him directly. After a conversation with Batten, he returned comment late Monday evening, issuing a statement to RACE22.com about Saturday’s incident.
“First, that’s not the way I drive,” Batten said in his statement. “I’ve raced with PASS for two years now and have never driven dirty. Me and Trevor Noles raced hard all last year and never had a problem. This year, as a whole, the Pro Late Model class has seen these guys driving like it is a million-to-win Cup race by halfway. I think half the field was gone at Greenville-Pickens and only three cars finished at Dillon. Guys just need to calm down and realize that these are full-bodied stock cars, not Go-Karts, Legends or Bandolero. These cars have enough power to pull out and pass. You don’t have to run through the guy in front of you to get around him.”
Next, Batten spoke about the specific incident which earned him a disqualification after being parked.
“I passed Schneider clean two or three times throughout the night,” Batten stated. “He gets by me and Zachary Dabbs after Dabbs drove through me getting into turn three and proceeded to drive over the nose of the car. I think maybe the next restart or so, I made it three wide on the frontstretch and reclaimed the lead. As far as I knew, Schneider and I were fine. We were racing hard and had put a straightaway on the third place car.
“Then, with 10 laps to go, just like Greenville, I get dumped off the kid’s nose. Then, lining up, somehow we got together in turn one coming to take the green. After the green flag waved, we’re going down the frontstretch and he just started trying to crowd me into the wall. I came down and the rest is history.”
Batten also took issue with the statements Schneider made in his interview with RACE22.com.
“As far as his interview, he hasn’t ‘outrun’ me yet,” Batten explained. “He’s driven through me two weeks in a row. I guess he thought he hadn’t done anything wrong at Greenville or Dillon. But, everything is over in my eyes now. We go on to Orange County in three weeks. Hopefully we can all race hard but clean and everyone will have their helmets on straight.”
That race at Orange County Speedway will be held on April 5th.
Zachary Dabbs, also a rookie in the PASS Pro Late Model division, claimed the victory in Saturday night’s race over Greg Bohanon, Jr. and Matt Murphy who was seven laps down.
