Vehicles Stolen from NASCAR Driver Seized from Home of Rival Racer

10 years, 10 months ago - 3 June 2013, Autoblog
Vehicles Stolen from NASCAR Driver Seized from Home of Rival Racer
NASCAR is reliable as the Bank of England when it comes to delivering drama on and off the track. Today's off-oval headlines involve Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck series drivers Mike Harmon and Jennifer Jo Cobb (pictured above).

A couple of weeks ago, on May 15, Cobb reported that someone stole a transporter from Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing and nearly $300,000 worth of vehicles inside. She told police she knew who did it and publicly named Mike Harmon and Sheila Rae Rice as the culprits. Harmon was arrested and charged for the theft, but answered the accusation by saying he was in another city when the theft occurred, he'd "never stolen so much as a piece of bubble gum in my life" and that the truth would come out.

What has come out before the truth, however, are seven vehicles that police removed from Harmon's shop and a storage unit that he owns. The two cars and five trucks are thought to be the vehicles that were in the stolen hauler, but the hauler still hasn't been found. Harmon, out on bond for the theft charge, hasn't been charged for this latest incident and both drivers will be racing against one another this weekend.

As bad as it looks for Harmon, there actually is more to the story. Harmon and Cobb worked together until the end of last year, when he was her team manager on a squad backed by David Novak. According to a piece in Sporting News, Cobb and Novak were romantically involved - a union that also ended at last year - Harmon works for Novak, and Novak and Cobb are in court over the ownership of team equipment. Novak was also charged in the hauler theft with conspiring to steal it, and apparently both Harmon and Novak have said they know where the hauler is but won't tell police. But this has something to do with the reason why Harmon - who says he doesn't have a license to drive an 18-wheeler - keeps saying it wasn't him. Cue the soap opera music, the roar of the engines and a "To Be Continued" title card.