Stolen-vehicle charge against Anderson dropped

Prosecutors have dropped a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle against NASCAR driver Jordan Anderson, who said Tuesday that he didn’t know a race truck he bought was stolen and has relinquished the truck in question.

Anderson bought the truck from fabricator Robert Newling, according to the Rowan County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Office, whose investigators eventually determined that Anderson had reason to believe that the truck was stolen. Newling, who did the repairs on the truck that was owned by Mike Harmon and crashed in a November 2017 race at Texas, was arrested for larceny of a motor vehicle.

“We have been cooperating with the investigation through counsel since I was notified about there being a potential warrant for my arrest while we were racing [Sept. 13-14] in Las Vegas,” Anderson said in a statement Tuesday. “My attorney has stayed in constant contact with the Rowan County District Attorney handling the case to reach a resolution. … The race truck in question was delivered earlier this week to a location desired by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Department. I continue to maintain my innocence in this matter, and the fact that I bought the race truck in good faith with a bill of sale, unbeknownst of its history.”

The Rowan County clerk of court’s office confirmed Tuesday that the charges were dropped, citing insufficient evidence. Anderson was never formally arrested.

The 27-year-old Anderson, whose struggles while owning his own truck team has had fans rally around him in his efforts, has 74 career starts in the trucks and 13 in the Xfinity series. He finished ninth in the trucks season opener at Daytona in February for his career-best finish.

“This has been quite a humbling lesson in being a new team owner, and the importance of discerning who you do business with,” Anderson said. “I take great honor in representing to the best of my ability my fans, partners, and family; and am grateful for your grace, support, and prayers through this all. “Nine months ago when we put into action the idea and dream of starting up our own team to compete, the main principle was, and is, to have faith, respect, and integrity serve as the pillar to every action and decision that is made with ownership.”