Former NASCAR Cup Series team owner indicted on federal charges

Former NASCAR Cup Series owner Ron Devine was indicted Wednesday on four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes, according to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports.

Devine, 67, was the primary owner of BK Racing, which fielded a cup entry from 2012-18, per a report from NBC Sports. Devine filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy three days before the 2018 Daytona 500. At that time, a bank claimed the team owed more than $8 million in outstanding loans. The bankruptcy court sold Devine’s charter and assets for $2.08 million later that year. Front Row Motorsports then purchased the charter and assets.

According to the indictment, Devine failed to account for and pay over hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes beginning in 2012. In 2017 alone, Devine allegedly failed to pay more than $390,000 in payroll taxes due to the IRS, per a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. Instead of using funds held in trust to pay for payroll taxes due between 2012-17, Devine transferred more than $2 million to other businesses and entities he owned.

Devine will make his first appearance in federal court in Charlotte. He is facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts in the indictment.