Full Throttle

It was billed as a Arena Racing USA match race between NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs and his long-time sponsor, and chairman of Interstate Batteries, Norm Miller. The pre-race banter between the two race rivals paled in comparison to what was to come after the green flag flew.

“It’s gonna be ugly,” Gibbs said, laughing. “I’m telling you, if Norm thinks he can beat me, it’s gonna be ugly. . . . I’ll try not to rough him up — unless he gets in front of me.”

Miller suggested he get a head start since at 70 he is two years older than Gibbs. That didn’t sit well with Gibbs.

“Coaches age faster,” he said, “seven years for every one year of coaching. I’m not going to give Norm any advantage.”

“If I win,” said Miller, “I get to lord it over Joe forever.”

Gibbs and Miller put on a memorable show driving the half-scale cars on the 1-10th-of-a-mile track. They were scheduled to race 20 laps, but a spectacular crash ended it on the sixth lap. ( 3 1/2 minute mark of the video - ed)

Moments after scraping into the Turn 2 wall, Gibbs tried to pass Miller by driving low in Turn 4, but clipped the right rear of Miller’s car sending Miller barrel-rolling into the Turn 4 wall.

Miller was unhurt as Gibbs was declared the winner, handing the first-place trophy to Miller.

“No excuses, I was out of control,” Gibbs said, before joking, “I blame it on Norm.”

Miller said, “He was running better than me and probably would’ve passed me. When he hit me, I saw the wall coming, but the helmet and the safety equipment worked fine.”

Gibbs “won” despite having a pre-race issue with the Tony Stewart firesuit he was given to compete in.

“They gave me Tony’s uniform, and I’ve accused Tony of being a little overweight,” Gibbs said. “I got that thing on, and I’ll be honest with you, I’ve got this much room left (about a 4-inch gap at the waist) and five people trying to zip it up.”

Gibbs then implied that Miller’s stomach size might make driving the tiny arena cars difficult for him. Miller countered by pointing to his ample waistline, covered by the Interstate Batteries uniform that replicates the one worn by Gibbs driver Kyle Busch.

“I was worried about the ‘Slosh Effect,’ “ Miller said, feigning concern that his belly might cause weight imbalance in the small car. “I was thinking that my gut might give me an advantage, a low center of gravity.

“But then I thought: What about Joe’s butt? So it will be ‘The Butt against the Gut.’ “

On a more serious note, Friday’s race was the 100th Arena Racing USA event at the Hampton Coliseum in addition to being Military Appreciation Night.

3,500 passed through the turnstiles, a three-fold increase and the the largest since Dale Earnhardt Jr. attended a 2002 race in Norfolk.