Beautiful Racing Driver "John Wes Townley" Dies by Murder at 31

metalmachine · Oct 4, 2021

Former NASCAR driver John Wes Townley was shot and killed Saturday in Athens (Gerorgia, USA). He was 31.

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Townley were shot just before 9 p.m.
Townley died after he was transported to a local hospital.

Athens-Clarke County police are suspecting the shooting had to do with a domestic violence issue of some sort.

Townley raced in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series from 2008-16. He made 76 Xfinity Series starts and 110 Truck Series starts. He won the 2015 Truck Series race at Las Vegas in what was his only national series NASCAR win.

Townley was one of the first young drivers in the late 2000s who advanced to the top levels of NASCAR powered by family funding. Townley’s father is the co-founder of Zaxby’s restaurants and the chicken chain sponsored him through the entirety of his career. That funding got Townley a full-season Xfinity Series ride at the age of 19 and he failed to finish seven of his 26 starts due to crashes.

Townley and the Zaxby’s sponsorship moved to Richard Childress Racing in 2010 but he ran just five races for the team before he was replaced behind the wheel.

That moment could have marked the end of a brief NASCAR tenure for Townley. But he kept racing part-time in the Xfinity Series and started running full-time in the Truck Series in 2012.

His best points finish in the Truck Series came in 2015 when he was eighth. He had eight top-10 finishes in 23 starts that season in addition to that win. He moved on from driving in NASCAR after running in 18 Truck Series races and two Xfinity Series races in 2016.