Nascar veteran Mike Wallace and his daughter were attacked after a Rascal Flatts concert in North Carolina on Friday, June 17, WBTV reports.
According to Wallace, 57, three young men repeatedly kicked and punched them in the parking lot outside the PNC Music Pavilion for 15 minutes. Wallace was left with a bruised eye, and his front teeth were knocked out. His daughter, 34-year-old Lindsey Van Wingerden, reportedly tried to protect him by covering him with her own body, but she was also repeatedly kicked.
“We’ve never been through anything like this. They just knocked me out. When I come to, my daughter is laying on the ground, my son-in-law were on top of me trying to protect me. They were kicking me, beating on me,” Wallace told WBTV on the phone.
Wallace was more upset about Lindsey’s well-being, though. “That hurts me worse than I got myself hurt, realizing [Lindsey] was trying to help me, and a group of people attacked her,” he added.
Wallace’s brother Kenny Wallace, a fellow former Nascar driver, further explained the incident on Twitter, saying it was unprovoked. “I’ve talked to Mike this morning. He is down in the dumps. Beat up badly and can’t see out of one eye. I WILL MAKE SURE THIS MAKES NEWS!!!!” the 52-year-old tweeted on Sunday. “The number ONE question I get from the @NASCAR world is ‘What did Mike do?’ Sad part is Mike did nothing. It was a GOON attack.”
The three men involved were arrested at the scene. A spokesperson for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department confirmed to FOX411 that Nathan Lucas and Randolph Mangum were charged with assault, and Paul Lucas was charged with assault on a female. USA Today says each was charged with simple assault and posted a $1,000 bond.
Wallace posted about the experience — and shared graphic photos of his injuries — on his official Facebook page. Additionally, he revealed that the men were released from jail before he and Lindsey even left the hospital.
“I normally would not post personal affairs but this is to help and give advice to our friends, do not ever talk to a group of now what appeared to be drunk or drugged up young adult men or women when you’re trying to get in your car to leave the un guarded PNC amphitheater in Charlotte, NC parking lot after a good Rascal Flatts concert,” he reportedly wrote on Sunday. “This is what I looked like after I was knocked out and crap beat out of me. The ambulance driver took this picture we were just supposed to have a fun night. I want to thank my family and friends for helping to protect me from a worse beating as I [laid] unconscious on the ground … Everyone please be careful in the future and take care of your friends that you go somewhere with.”
