From 20/20:

And car racing was taking an even larger role in his life. He did color commentary on ESPN for the Indianapolis 500. But his private wish was to qualify to drive in the race.

Priestley has crashed or spun out numerous times on the race track, and once in a boat race. But in 1998, his restlessness turned to recklessness when he crashed his Porsche into a telephone pole in Hollywood Hills.

Priestley was arrested for driving while under the influence. He spent five nights in jail. His driver's license was suspended for a year and he had to complete an alcohol-management program.

Sounds like a real smart racer to me.:rolleyes:

Shane,very professional and to the point and VERY TRUE!!!!!!!!!!Ms.Walters....thank you for bad mouthing Offshore Racing,standing up for the movie star without the "REAL Facts" or a concern for the Racers the movie star ran into or their Families....good show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taking a chance here that I am going to take on the wrath of this board, I will ask the question:
"Why does EVERYONE have such a "hard-on" for this guy?" He gave Offshore a shot, it didn't work out and now he's gone...what is the big deal? Has anyone else (an experienced racer) ever had an accident in a turn? It just seems like there are a lot of people putting a lot of energy into this "who's right/who's wrong" thing!

Outcast,

I agree that Jason had the potential to do a lot for our sport. However, there are a few things that need to be understood. First, when he raced with Tim Ciasulli in Planetman he touted and was touted as having set a course and world record for fastest lap time. What is wrong with this is that he was the navigator along for a ride because he was interested in buying the boat. He had nothing to do with the record at all. Then he boasted and was subsequently reported to have won his first race ever. Well, when there is only one boat in your class...

Furthermore, when the accident occurred fingers were pointed asit being everyone elses fault. Hey, that's racing and in racing chit happens. Just own up to it. If you go back and read my posts when this originally aired you will see that I think it was great that he was giving it a shot. Just be straight up about it thats all. He made a mistake, they hit, thats racing. Just don't blame someone else and I think all would have been forgotten.

Ditto, Shane!

Shane for President
 

Great work there Shane - BH

Is he the first person to buy their way into racing or just one of the more famous?

Indy:

JP is definitely not the 1st person to buy his way into a seat of an offshore powerboat but, his bragging, non committment to a series and lack of talent is what made him look bad. I know Nick Carter himself never raced in 2002, but his committment to a full series , professionalism and attitude really helped our sport. Just my .02 worth - BH

well we should all be glad that both nick and jason are gone from racing.

Did I miss something? Is Nick Carter gone from racing?