TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Police are investigating after an off-duty officer heckled NASCAR star Tony Stewart and was confronted by the driver.
The confrontation happened Friday night at the weeklong Chili Bowl dirt-track racing event at the Tulsa Expo Center.
The heckler was Cpl. Kyle Hess with the sheriff’s office, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said. Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Green said the investigation will finish after the weekend and his office is expected to release a statement then.
Cellphone videos from fans posted online shortly afterward show Stewart and the fan locking hands and engaging in heated conversation. The videos show Stewart going into the stands. Hess fell backward after a security guard stepped between the two, though Stewart continued to talk to a seated Hess.
Green said that after looking at the video he doubts charges will be filed against the 44-year-old driver or Hess.
“Of course, there may be other details that are still out there other than that video,” he said.
Stewart works on track preparation during the weeklong event, which he won as a driver in 2002 and 2007. The three-time NASCAR champion, who will retire from NASCAR following the 2016 season, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Stewart was 25th in the standings last season and failed to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship for a third consecutive year.
He missed a third of the 2013 season after breaking his leg in a sprint car crash. In 2014, he struck and killed a racer, Kevin Ward Jr., who had left his car during the race in New York. Stewart avoided criminal charges but faces a civil suit from Ward’s family.