Max Papis Slapped by Rival NASCAR Driver's Girlfriend, Suffers Dislocated Jaw (VIDEO)
'She Hit Me So Freaking Hard,' Says Papis
Max Papis was slapped by the girlfriend of fellow driver Mike Skeen after engaging him during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Bowmanville, Ontario Sunday. Papis claims now that he was hit so hard his jaw was dislocated, but didn't retaliate because "you don't hit a lady."
Max Papis was slapped after the race was already over, but the tension between him and Mike Skeen's camp started much earlier. The final turn of the race was pandemonium: Chase Elliott, the eventual youngest NASCAR circuit winner at 17, spun Ty Dillon, who crashed into a wall, then Papis and Skeen made contact at the same part of the track. Papis, who came in sixth, blamed Skeen, calling it an "amateur move."
"The (no.) 6 car, I knew he was going to do something not very (sportsmanlike) because that is what he did before. … He came in the last corner and just drilled us. And he not only put me in the grass, he put me against Ty," Papis told USA Today. "It was just an amateur move and I got really upset with him. … I don't have time for guys like that."
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The conflict didn't end there. Skeen drove next to Papis on the track and the two men exchanged words, then Papis followed him to his pit and crew. One crew member didn't take that too lightly and attempted to grab Papis out of his truck. Papis, undeterred, entered Skeen's team hauler and while looking for Skeen, pushed past his girlfriend, nearly pulling her down the stairs.
I "moved her aside," Papis told ESPN.
She retaliated after the 43-year-old Italian driver had his post-race interview. Confronting the driver by pulling his arm, she heatedly lectured him, then slapped him in the face.
"This crazy lady comes shouting at me, and I had no idea, didn't even understand her, she just started shouting," Papis told ESPN. "And all the sudden, she took a full hand -- and she slapped me so hard. I'm not kidding. My jaw got dislocated and my left ear is still ringing, big time."
"What do you do? You don't hit a lady," Papis continued. "I was in disbelief. Complete disbelief. If she would've closed her hand it would have been a bad punch, because she hit me so freaking hard."
The incident was captured on camera, and the Italian driver made sure to address the incident on Twitter afterwards.
"That deal was only between me and #6 driver we could have solved it alone …but I guess he needed some …help!!!!" he posted.
