He should have known better.

A race fan hurled a water bottle onto the Rockingham Dragway racing surface just moments before two cars were to stage during the recently completed ADRL Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C.

There’s never a good time for an object to be hurled onto the racing surface but this incident had championship implications.

Charles Carpenter and Burton Auxier were battling for the last remaining spot in the ADRL’s Battle of the Belts Championship competition scheduled for next month in Dallas, Texas.

Carpenter came into the race ninth in the points, with Burton Auxier trailing closely behind. When Harold Martin, who was in the eighth and final points position, failed to qualify, it left the door wide open for Carpenter and Auxier to stage a battle for last man standing.

Faces felony charges under North Carolina law ...

He should have known better.

A race fan hurled a water bottle onto the Rockingham Dragway racing surface just moments before two cars were to stage during the recently completed ADRL Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C.

There’s never a good time for an object to be hurled onto the racing surface but this incident had championship implications.

Charles Carpenter and Burton Auxier were battling for the last remaining spot in the ADRL’s Battle of the Belts Championship competition scheduled for next month in Dallas, Texas.

Carpenter came into the race ninth in the points, with Burton Auxier trailing closely behind. When Harold Martin, who was in the eighth and final points position, failed to qualify, it left the door wide open for Carpenter and Auxier to stage a battle for last man standing.

As fate would have it, they met in the first round of competition.

“It was a perfect situation to be in,” said Carpenter. “We were in control of our championship quest. Burton and I had been running similar numbers in the heat on Saturday, so it looked like it would be a killer matchup with the winner going on to take the final Battle for the Belts spot.”

Both cars rolled into the pre-stage lights and as they did, ADRL Starter Eddie Cranford immediately ran in front of Carpenter’s car and alerted both drivers to the situation.

“I saw Eddie running out there, and I thought someone had dropped something on the track like one of Jamie Hancock’s crew did when we ran him in Huntsville last year,” Carpenter recalled.

The bottle and water were cleaned up as the cars backed off the line, but the damage was done. Carpenter’s clutch had become heated from dragging into the beams the first time, and the power application was too aggressive, causing the car to go into immediate tire shake as Auxier streaked to the most important round win of his season.

Both Rockingham Dragway owner Steve Earwood and ADRL President Kenny Nowling were proactive in the situation. A cash reward of $500 was offered to anyone who would turn in the culprit.

Nowling confirmed that a group of spectators dragged the ill-advised culprit to the authorities to collect the bounty.

Carpenter unfortunately had to pay for the fan’s antics.

“It’s a real shame, especially considering the importance of the run and everything that was riding on it,” said a dejected Carpenter. “We love the fans and appreciate every last one of them, but for something like that to happen is extremely disappointing. It’s such an uphill battle for us to come out and do what we do with what we have to work with as it is without having to deal with things like that, but that’s racing I guess. The important thing is that no one got hurt and Burton and I were both able to take our cars to the next race in one piece.”

The offender was arrested and faces criminal charges based on North Carolina law, where it is a felony to throw any object onto a race track. So, now he will pay.