Chris Knight

Chris Knight has served as a senior staff writer and news editor for CATCHFENCE.com since 2001.

In his 20-plus years with CATCHFENCE.com, he has covered NASCAR’s top three national series, often breaking news and providing exclusive at-track content, including in-depth race weekend coverage.

He also offers insider coverage of the entire Motorsports platform, including the ARCA Menards Series.

In 2022, Knight became co-owner of CATCHFENCE.com.

In addition to his active duties at CATCHFENCE.com and other Motorsports-related endeavors, he is also a frequent contributor to SiriusXM Satellite Radio NASCAR Channel 90.

You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Knighter01 or on Instagram, Snapchat, or Threads at @TheKnighter01.

He can be reached by email at [email protected].

GREENVILLE — A proposed revision to Greenville’s land use ordinance which involves a new definition pertaining to motorsports businesses has been developed by the planning board. The proposal was brought to the select board at the Dec. 3 meeting and action may be taken at a future meeting.

Planning Board Chair John Contreni said he is reading a book about The Constitution and the author makes a point about it being amended from time to time as living documents. 

“I think of that when I think of our land use ordinance, periodically it needs to be amended because things change within town,” Contreni said.

Land use ordinance amendments big and small have been brought forward in recent years, he said. Now there is a “new definition that we would like to add to the list of definitions, it’s called ‘motorsports sales/service/repair.’”

A motorsports sales, service and repair establishment is a commercial use involving the retail sale, servicing, maintenance and mechanical repair of recreational and utility vehicles powered by internal combustion or electric engines. This use includes but is not limited to boats and electrical watercraft, snowmobile, all terrain vehicles, utility vehicles, small engine recreational vehicles, for example dirt bikes, go karts, and lawn and garden equipment, for example mowers, chainsaws and trimmers, Contreni read aloud.

Such a business would not be permitted in the residential, downtown district 1 and 2, rural, airport and resource protection districts. These would be available for conditional use in village, village commercial, commercial industrial, rural development 1 and 2 districts, meaning the owner needs to come before the planning board to get a permit. 

“We had some interest in somebody opening up a shop to repair 4-wheelers and side by sides and small engine stuff,” Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol said.

Some discussions with neighbors revealed they were worried the business could evolve into an automobile garage so instead a specific motorsports definition was developed by the planning board. 

The select board would need to approve the definition and it would then go before residents to be decided at a special town meeting.

Selectperson Richard Peat said he would like more time to look the proposal over, so no action was taken by the board.

In his report, Town Manager Mike Roy said, “As you know Ron here, our CEO, is leaving us on Friday. Ron, thank you for your work and dedication and helping make the town a better place to be and appreciate all your hard work and your work ethic as well.”

The week before two strong candidates were interviewed for the code enforcement position, Roy said. An offer was made to and accepted by resident Tim Post and he began working with Sarol.

“Ron is showing him some things as things come up, showing him around the office and basically passing the baton so to speak,” the town manager said.

“I feel like all the interview committee felt that he was very capable of handling himself with enforcements and making some great decisions and following our town ordinances,” Roy said.

Last month Sarol submitted his resignation letter to the town after having served as code enforcement officer for more than three years. He has known Post, who has lived in Greenville for 33 years and is a former member of the fire department, for the last few years.

Post has been a forest ranger and forester with the Maine Forest Service and oversaw timber harvesting operations. He later served as a field team leader overseeing permitting and supervising three regional enforcement coordinators and two district foresters.

Post has been retired for eight months and thought the code enforcement position would be a good fit for him when he saw the job posting.

The skating rink warming hut was set to arrive the day after the meeting. Roy said a $10,000 donation is helping fund the structure with the remaining $14,545 coming from a capital improvement account.

“Hopefully we can get some cold weather, get the rink flooded and start using it,” Roy said.

Power and water still need to be connected once the warming hut is in place. 

“After that it’s lights on to skate,” Roy said.

Subaru Motorsports USA and Hoonigan have premiered the latest entry in the internet-breaking Gymkhana film franchise, “Aussie Shred.” Set Down Under in the land that coined the term “hoon,” Travis Pastrana’s third Gymkhana film is the wildest in franchise history, featuring the biggest jumps, closest calls and craziest tricks in a Gymkhana film to date.
 
Pastrana takes on the Outback, Sydney’s Harbour and Bathurst’s Mount Panorama, among other locales, from behind the wheel of the Subaru “Brataroo” 9500 Turbo, a re-imagining of a 1978 Subaru BRAT engineered as a purpose-built Gymkhana weapon. Subaru of America and technical partner Vermont SportsCar (VSC) crafted the Brataroo to corner, slide and fly well beyond the capabilities of its predecessors, utilizing no shortage of innovative engineering to create the most advanced active aerodynamics on a Gymkhana car to date. The rallycross-derived machine features a fire-spitting turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer engine delivering 670 horsepower and 680 lb-ft of torque and revving to more than 9,500 RPM.  
 
“The Brataroo is hands down the craziest Gymkhana car we’ve ever built,” said Pastrana. “Every part of this car was designed to take the abuse we threw at it while making this film. From hanging two tires off a pier to flying 160 feet across a 10-story deep canyon gap over a road train. Skimming across a deep lake and scaring myself every step of the way.”
 
In true Gymkhana fashion, the film features a host of cameos from local motorsport icons, including two-time Dakar Rally champion Toby Price, Subaru WRC driver Chris “Atko” Atkinson, Nitro Circus BMX riders Ryan Williams, Jaie Toohey and Will Brown, alongside a field of V8 Supercars drivers who challenged the Brataroo to a rolling drag race down Mount Panorama’s Conrod Straight. The star-studded lineup also includes Moog and Marty of Mighty Car Mods, the last of the V8 Interceptors and the Mad Hueys performing the noblest of Aussie traditions, the shoey.  
 
“Australia had long been at the top of the list of potential Gymkhana Film locations.” said 321 Action Action Director and Hoonigan Co-Founder Brian Scotto. “Ken Block and I attempted to shoot Gymkhana Nine there, but were met with a resounding no, because of the climate of anti-hoon laws at the time. A decade later, when we reapproached the Australian government, we were met with open arms. This combination of the unfinished business we had down under and this being Pastrana’s last film in the series, not only makes it very special to me, but also put the pressure on to push the limit of what we could do both in the car and behind the camera.” 

Aussie Shred explores Australia like no other film before; the juxtaposition of the bustling harbor and the red sands of the Outback created the perfect setting, with due homage to the previous films of Ken Block, whose vision transformed a passion for driving into a global cultural phenomenon with the original “Gymkhana Practice” film.

 

Gymkhana Aussie Shred premieres on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. ET on the Hoonigan YouTube channel. (WATCH NOW)

 

 

About Subaru Motorsports USA 

Subaru Motorsports USA is directed by Subaru of America, Inc., managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by MOTUL, Yokohama Tires, R53 Suspension, Triple-R Lights, DirtFish Rally School and Sparco USA. Follow the team online at www.subaru.com/motorsports. 

 

Follow Subaru Motorsports USA on Facebook, on Instagram @subarumotorsportsusa and on TikTok @subarumotorsportsusa. 

 

About Subaru of America, Inc.  

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise®, which is the company’s vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $340 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 115,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company® and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.

 

 

About Hoonigan Media Machine  

Hoonigan is much more than a brand. It’s an automotive subculture, fueled on the shared passion of going fast and breaking things… then rebuilding them better than before. The company’s signature brand of vehicular savagery is on full display across its network of YouTube channels, serving daily content to a subscription base numbering in the millions. In addition to daily videos and social media content, Hoonigan has long been the production and marketing outfit originally founded by Ken Block and Brian Scotto, and the media machine behind the award-winning series of viral videos, such as Gymkhana, Climbkhana, Terrakhana and Electrikhana. At the heart of it all, however, is a wide-ranging apparel collection that (along with an authentically automotive-obsessed cast of characters) represents the brand’s core ethos: Having fun with cars. 

 

PENSACOLA, Fla. — It took 15 previous tries and Ty Majeski jumping the final restart but Stephen Nasse has finally – unofficially – won the Snowball Derby.

In what turned out to be 300 laps of classic survival, Stephen Nasse was scored as the winner Monday. Nasse never actually took the lead and crossed the line behind Ty Majeski – but officials ruled Majeski jumped the final restart, giving Nasse his first Snowball Derby win in his 15th try.

“I told them if we can win this, it’ll make up for a winless season,” Nasse said. “We’re gonna hit up Ruby Tuesday again and have a celebration.”

Majeski dominated the race but went on defense on the restart with 13 laps to go. Officials gave him a warning for jumping the first restart attempt – and then the black flag for jumping the second attempt.

Majeski stayed out and sharply disagreed with the call after the race.

“I don’t know, I felt like I was being pretty consistent. I definitely jumped the first and the second, the rule is to pick up the pace to the line but the rule, the way it is written, is not black and white and leaves it open to balls and strikes. So, I don’t know what to say… I’d like to talk to race control and have a discussion. I feel like we won this race and we’ll try and argue of course,” Majeski said.

Nasse took the win over Dawson Sutton, who ran the fastest time in practice and showed better speed as the race went on.

“It is my dream to win this race so it sucks to finish second but I’m thankful to be here,” Sutton said. “It was a really up and down day and I’m thankful to finish second.”

TOP 10 (LAP 300): Stephen Nasse, Dawson Sutton, Jake Garcia, Kasey Kleyn, Jake Finch, Matt Craig, Ty Fredrickson, Preston Peltier, Haeden Plybon, Derek Thorn.

Snowball Derby 2025 Recap

Going into the race, Ryan Preece and Max Reaves pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.

Preston Peltier led the first 16 laps before Ty Majeski took the lead and Spencer Davis rallied around Peltier to take second.

Meanwhile, Hudson Bulger sunk from fifth to 11th in two laps before spinning off the bumper of defending race winner Kaden Honeycutt on lap 39.

During the first run of the race, possible favorite Tristan McKee fell out of the race with a mechanical issue. Kyle Busch also went a lap down 34 laps in.

Bulger’s troubles didn’t end there as a lap 52 incident with Treyten Lapcevich and Casey Roderick ended his day.

The most bizarre crash of the day happened on the restart when Richard Childress Racing development driver Carson Brown crashed while slowing for a caution for Lapcevich’s car leaking fluid. The crash buckled all the way up to the roof.

Under caution, on lap 62, Majeski and Jake Finch pitted. Davis and Peltier stayed out and took the leading spots but Peltier snagged the lead away on the lap 68 restart. 

On the restart, Stephen Nasse cracked the top 10 after starting 32nd. By lap 73, he jumped to eighth.

Busch also found himself working his way through the field with new tires, jumping to ninth immediately before Lapcevich stopped on track and brought out a caution on lap 83 that led to a restart where Busch dropped to 13th.

On the other hand, Nasse drove from eighth to fifth on the restart with Davis now out in front. It didn’t last long, however, as Majeski passed him for sixth on lap 102.

Majeski and David Gilliland chopped through the field as they took care of Nasse, then Dawson Sutton and then Jace Hansen before the next caution flew on lap 111 for Derek Kraus crashing in turn two. That left the top-10 as:

• Preston Peltier, David Gilliland, Spencer Davis, Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton, Stephen Nasse, Jake Finch, Bubba Pollard, Kyle Busch.

Gilliland, Majeski, Garcia, Finch, Pollard, Busch and Buddy Shepherd stayed out for the lap 117 restart. A lap later, Majeski clawed the lead away a lap and Garcia followed through before Shepherd spun and destroyed his car in turn two.

“I just got turned, plain and simple,” Shepherd said. “The 33 car [of Matt Craig] has gotta be a pretty big idiot to do that on lap 120 [of 300].”

Majeski retained the lead on lap 126 but Nasse, Davis, Butcher and Peltier rallied by Garcia.

However, Davis’ day soon came to an end when smoke poured from his car on lap 144. A fitting loose on his oil pump ultimately ended his day.

Back on track, Majeski, Nasse and Peltier took the podium spots by lap 166 but Kole Raz joined them in the mix in fourth. Right after Majeski lapped Gilliland one run after passing him for the lead, Raz took third from Peltier on lap 182 and then took second on lap 192. Another 23 laps and Raz closed to Majeski’s bumper — but the final competition caution cut his bid for the lead short.

The restart was no kinder to Raz who dropped behind a few drivers, including Dustin Smith, Gavan Boschele, Dawson Sutton and Stephen Nasse, as a result of spinning his tires.

Kaden Honeycutt rallied into the top 10 but had to come to pit road with less than 40 laps to go. That ended his day saying, “something broke on the left front.”

The race shaped up with 25 laps to go when Stephen Nasse took second from Dustin Smith. As contenders fell away, including Preston Peltier who had a flat tire and the pair of Smith and Boschele who crashed to bring out the final caution, it came down to a restart with 13 laps to go.

To officials, Ty Majeski jumped not only the first restart attempt but also the second attempt — warranting a black flag that handed the win to Stephen Nasse.

Snowball Derby 2025 Full Results

1. Stephen Nasse
2. Dawson Sutton
3. Jake Garcia
4. Kasey Kleyn
5. Jake Finch
6. Matt Craig
7. Ty Fredrickson
8. Preston Peltier
9. Haeden Plybon
10. Derek Thorn -1 lap
11. Michael Atwell -1
12. David Gilliland -1
13. Dylan Fetcho -2 laps
14. Dustin Smith -2
15. Cole Butcher -2
16. Gavan Boschele -2
17. Derek Kraus -2
18. Chase Pinsonneault -3
19. Kyle Busch -3
20. Brandon Lopez -3
21. Derek Griffith -4
22. Jacob Gomes -4
23. Ty Majeski -5 laps (scoring stopped with five laps to go)
24. Kole Raz -8 laps
25. Jace Hansen – OUT (Mechanical, 288 laps)
26. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT (Mechanical, 258 laps)
27. Bubba Pollard -123 laps
28. Spencer Davis – OUT (Mechanical, 155 laps)
29. Treyten Lapcevich – OUT (Mechanical, 146 laps)
30. Buddy Shepherd – OUT (Crash, 120 laps)
31. Carson Brown – OUT (Crash, 61 laps)
32. Casey Roderick – OUT (Crash, 58 laps)
33. Hudson Bulger – OUT (Crash, 51 laps)
34. Tristan McKee – OUT (Mechanical, 20 laps)
35. Max Reaves – DNS
36. Ryan Preece – DNS

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A local coalition has filed paperwork to change Nashville’s Metro Charter, which could eliminate the requirement for auto racing at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and open the door for affordable housing, green space, and environmental protections.

The group Restore Our Fairgrounds submitted a petition Monday to the charter revision commission seeking to remove racing as a mandated use of the property. If successful, the amendment would prioritize green space, affordable housing, workforce housing, and environmental protections for Browns Creek.

“We came together about two years ago. It’s a volunteer coalition of various groups,” said Mike Kopp with Restore Our Fairgrounds.

The coalition has expanded beyond neighborhood associations to include environmental groups, the Civic Design Center and longtime community activists. For years, the Nashville Fairgrounds has been a political battleground, with many neighbors saying racing brings noise, pollution, and limits public access to the property.

“There’s such a need in that part of town for green space, for places for kids to run and play, retail, affordable housing, and workforce housing,” Kopp said.

To move forward, the group must collect enough signatures from registered voters to get the amendment on the November 2026 ballot.

“We petitioned the charter revision commission to change that language. Then the next challenge is we’ve got to secure at least 50, 60,000 signatures of registered voters,” Kopp said.

This marks the second attempt by the same group to change the charter after trying last year.

Kopp emphasized the coalition is not anti-racing but believes there’s a better location for motorsports in Lebanon.

“There is a super speedway just a few miles down the road. They should be doing racing there,” Kopp said.

The debate centers on who gets to decide the future of one of Nashville’s largest public properties.

“It only makes sense to open it up and allow the voters and the people in those neighborhoods to weigh in on that. They should have a seat at the table,” Kopp said.

The group says timing is critical, as they fear the city and Speedway Motorsports could be working toward a NASCAR-style expansion. If the charter amendment is approved by voters, it would give residents the final say on the fairgrounds’ future as early as November 2026.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.