Zia Park: Man arrested after driving truck around racetrack

Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., became a racing strip for a wayward driver over the weekend, when a man broke through the gap, raced around the track in his truck, and was later charged with drunk driving, according to a report by the local Fox television affiliate KRQE.

There are no horses currently stabled at Zia, which closed out its mixed meet in December. The track sustained about $40,000 in damages, according to the KRQE report. Officials from Zia did not immediately return a call Wednesday. Damage to the track surface at Zia exceeded $25,000, according to a police report obtained by Daily Racing Form.

Martin McDonald, a 28-year-old from Fort Worth, Tex., has been charged with criminal damage to property, which is a felony, as well as driving while intoxicated, criminal trespass, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and concealing identity.

Zia security called the Hobbs police department about the incident last weekend, with officers responding to the call around 1:20 a.m. Friday.

“They said there was a man in a white pickup truck going around and around the track,” said Mike Stone, an officer with the Hobbs police department. “I guess he had somehow used the truck to destroy a barrier on the track. When officers got there he was going around the track about 50 miles per hour.”

One officer followed McDonald for a lap, and when he would not stop all potential exits were blocked, said Stone.

“When he noticed that, he finally stopped,” Stone said.

Officers spoke to McDonald, and when he got out of his truck he passed out on the track. He was taken to a local hospital due to his level of intoxication, said Stone.

McDonald post $8,100 bond, and is expected to have a preliminary court date in about 10 days, said Stone.