KINGSPORT, TN :: After CE Falk and Nate Monteith clashed again at the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at the Richmond International Raceway last Thursday, Falk had some scathing commentary about Monteith. After the video was published, several drivers and crew members from Kingsport Speedway took offense to Falk’s portrayal of the track and the area.
“We beat Nate,” Falk explained. “He’s got plenty of horsepower but no drive. The better car beat him. He can’t take it. He gets beat at Daytona because he’s too slow. He tries to cheat down there and it doesn’t work for him. He comes in here and tears my racecar all to hell. He can’t even hold my freaking helmet. He thinks he’s so bad to the bone. He’s going to pay for my car one way or the other and that will be that. I’m pretty sure he’s done racing NASCAR so he can go have fun racing lawnmowers with the rest of his hillbilly friends.
“He locked the brakes up and got spun in front of the whole field at Daytona and he came in there and wanted to punch my window. He can’t even swing. I tried to make reason with him. I lent his engine builder a jack bolt screw so he wouldn’t tear up his damn jack bolt nut so I could go out there and beat him. The guy’s an idiot. He’s always been an idiot. The reason nobody goes to Hillbilly, Tennessee and races is because you have to race with morons like that who race their backyard freaking racecars. He can go back to wherever the hell he’s from, I’ll keep racing and winning races and he’ll be stuck on the sidelines… we’ll keep winning races and I’ll make sure I send a bunch of my trophies to Hillbilly, Tennessee.”
Falk’s comments didn’t sit well with competitors at Kingsport Speedway.
Zeke Shell, who has won two races, laid out a challenge to CE Falk with this post, which his girlfriend, Amber Abram, posted on her Facebook page: “To C.E. from Zeke: This is a challenge….I challenge you to come race at Kingsport to see who’s really better. The hillbilly or the golden child…the loser shuts his mouth. Let’s see if your mouth can write a check your ass can cash because I don’t think so. But here’s your final warning talk down to my state again and I’ll show you what a true hillbilly can do and I promise it will be embarrassing to you. Let’s see your money get you out of this one.”
Ronnie G. Maness posted on Kingsport Speedway’s Facebook page: “Can’t wait for Hillbilly Racing at The Concrete Jungle Friday night. Just wish a certain Tidewater driver showed up and found out what real racing is. CAN’T WAIT!!!!!”
“I’ve got my lawnmower ready,” Scottie Tipton facetiously posted on Kingsport Speedway’s Facebook page. “It runs really fast.”
Late Model driver Austin Peters wrote, “I was actually pulling for C.E. at the Daytona race and was pissed off when Larson dumped him for the win, but after hearing him refer to us as Hillbilly Tennessee 2 or 3 times and talking crap about us working on our race cars in our back yards or whatever I’ve lost all respect for the guy!”
“Mr. Falk. Please come to Kingsport, TN (we just put new gravel on the main roads….next year we’re hoping to get some of that pavement stuff we’ve been hearing about), and show us ‘Hillbillies’ how a REAL race car driver does it,” Robert Harris snarked on the RACE22.com Facebook page. “We’ll try real hard not to get in your way while you dazzle us with your big city driving talent. The track pays the feature winner $1150 in cash, and makes your picture holding a trophy. For a supreme talent such as yourself, this should be like ‘taking candy from a baby’. We hope to see you soon! P.S. FYI, we only race our lawnmowers in the Winter……. We need them to cut grass and go to the store on during the Spring and Summer months.”
Josh Berry was amused at Falk’s comments, saying to Falk on Twitter, “Hey man, not everyone from Tennessee is a Hillbilly. LOL.”
Falk responded to Berry saying, “I just said he was from hillbilly Tennessee. I love some things from Tennessee, Jack Daniels, Bristol, Country Music, just a few.”
Falk also responded to Chris Lawson, who said Falk had the best Richmond post-race interview in the “Best RACE22 video I’ve seen in a while” by posting: “Just trying to spread the gospel brotha”.
Jeremy Michael Jordan, who has worked with CE Falk for more than three seasons, took to Facebook to defend Falk, saying: “I’ll clear a few things up here. I’ve worked with CE for the past 3 seasons, Great guy and works very hard, and I’m willing to bet that he wants to win more than any driver at the race track anywhere he goes. Couple things that people have mixed up is that he as a Unlimited Budget, and mommy and daddy’s money is 100% false. IF they had a unlimited budget you’d see him in the KN series with those that actually have BIG money or more truck races…why would he stick around in a Late Model? Every sponsor that guy has he personally goes out and gets, and I respect that to the fullest. I read something about paid crew…again this is false…not that I am anybody. But I’ve never been paid to go to the race track, and don’t expect to be along with the 4 other of us that are there week in and week out. Granted he has had a paid crew chief the past few years (which is fairly common with top runners in the nation) 2013 Everything you see from his car to his brothers is CE working on it himself. I’m not saying CE is a saint…or that I agree or disagree with what was said. However, I 100% understand the frustration he has when his work gets destroyed over something they could have talked it out. If CE wanted to wreck Nate, or Nate was mad enough to wreck CE they both had plenty of opportunities on the race track, to do it after the race, on pit road is not cool. Just my .02”
Nate Monteith was suspended until June 12th and fined $500 for the incident at Richmond. He had already been on probation for punching Falk after the heat race at Daytona where the two drivers made contact. Monteith will appeal the suspension.
