Additional details of the shooting death of former NASCAR driver John Wes Townley have emerged. According to the Athens-Clake County Police (via USA Today), Townley was shot due to “an altercation” in the Athens Five Points area on Saturday between him and a 32-year-old man from Dunwoody, Georgia. Townley, 31, arrived at the residence with a hatchet. The home was occupied by Townley’s ex-wife, Laura Townley, and Zachary Anderson.
The police report said that Towley “attacked Mr. Anderson and Ms. Townley with a hatchet” and “Mr. Anderson fired several shots from his gun.” Both John Wes Townley and Laura Townley were shot. John Wes Townley died from his injuries at the hospital, while Larua Townley, 30, is dealing with “serious” injuries but is expected to survive, police said.
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The investigation is ongoing, but police said they have been in contact with Anderson. As of this writing, no charges have been filed. Police said that John Wes Townley and Laura Townley had finalized a divorce, and John Wes Townley filed the petition in February.
John Wes Townley competed in NASCAR for eight years before retiring in 2016. His best season was in 2015 when he won a Camping World Truck Series race in Las Vegas. He finished eighth in the Truck Series standings after finishing in the top 10 in the handful of races. Townley completed in 110 Truck Races and had 24 top 10 finishes with two poles.
Townley also competed in 76 Xfinity Series races but didn’t win one event or finish in the top 10. He is from Watkinsville, Georgia and is the son of Zaxby’s co-founder Tony Townley. In 2015, Townley spoke to USA Today about various topics including dealing with an angry driver.
“Well, it depends on if I intended on doing it or not – which is rare,” he said. “Unless it’s like revenge or something like that, I’ll rarely ever move somebody or spin them out or anything like that. If it’s accidental and I legitimately am sorry about it, I’ll apologize. But if it’s a situation where there’s already like a grudge going on, I can be bad about fighting fire with fire and making the situation worse at times.”
