During a red flag for a massive restart crash that severely damaged the Turn 1 wall at the San Diego street course, something truly unusual happened.
Wearing flip-flops, a fan walked onto the race track and approached the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford of Sheldon Creed. They shared a brief conversation, which ended with a fist-bump. The fan then slapped the hood of the car and quickly scaled two fences, losing a flip-flop in the process as he retreated back to the fan area.
Well, he didn't make it very far after his clumsy escape, as federal agents promptly arrested the man.
Creed laughed it off, radioing to the team: "I think he's wasted. I didn't even understand what he was saying. Please let the officials know we have no part in this guy."
Don’t try this at home… or a NASCAR track… or a Naval Base… or all of the above.
— Motorsport (@Motorsport) June 21, 2026
A fan climbed the fence to talk to driver Sheldon Creed. pic.twitter.com/FJ44bfVgyv
Motorsport.com's Matt Weaver spoke with Creed after the race, and the Haas driver offered some more insight into his unexpected interaction.
"My spotter was like, 'ask him the damage.' So I was like (pointing), 'hows all my damage look?' He looks at it and he's like, 'bad!' And then he said something else. I couldn't make out what he said. Probably boozing a little bit, and then he looks around and goes: 'Are you guys still racing?' I was like what, obviously? And then my spotter again said 'you better tell him to get out of there. They're starting to head that way. So then I just started pointing. Did you see how fast he shot up the fence?"
That didnt end well for flip.flop guy pic.twitter.com/m85bRh8Mdg
— Joey Meier 🇺🇸 🛫 (@JoeyMeier) June 21, 2026
While truly bizarre, this isn't completely unheard of. During a red flag at Watkins Glen in 2007, a shirtless fan walked onto the race track, and leaned into the window of Matt Kenseth's car, requesting an autograph. He did not get one.
In more recent years, a fan climbed the fence and sat atop it while the race was ongoing at Richmond Raceway in 2014.
While foolish at any track, Saturday's incident is made a bit worse by the fact that he chose to do it on an active military base, which those federal agents who placed him in handcuffs surely won't be laughing about...
