Former Baja 500 winner Mike Childress has phoned Dirt Sports today to respond to allegations posted on the Internet by a rival that he struck CORR Chief Operating Officer Cissy Baldwin at round 12 of the Championship Off-Road Racing series at Chula Vista International Raceway on Sunday.

Childress’ accuser claims that Childress was ejected from the CORR race on Sunday when he punched Baldwin in the face while involved in an altercation with “90 lb., 18-year-old Tyler White,” and that he later threatened members of rival racer David Caspino’s family and crew.

While the 25-year-old Childress confirms that an altercation did take place, and that he was asked to leave the event, he presents a very different view of the incident and why it occurred.

“This whole thing has been so blown out of proportion,” Childress told Dirt Sports. “My trouble with David Caspino actually goes back to a couple years ago when he almost ran over one of my friend’s daughters in the pits at the Primm 300 in 2007. I confronted him about it, and we had words. Later on, I heard that he had been banned from SNORE for doing some stupid things, and when I heard it I made the mistake of posting on one of the message boards, ‘This must be the same retard who nearly ran over my friend’s daughter.’

“So it was a poor word choice, I’ll admit to that. But the next thing I know, Mr. Caspino is e-mailing me and telling me how he is the father of a retarded child, and that he is going to bring other families with retarded children to the races to confront me about what I had said. I felt bad about it, and then I found out that Mr. Caspino doesn’t even have children and that he had made up the whole thing up just to try and make me look bad.

“At Chula Vista this weekend, I was hanging out with Cissy Baldwin in the pits, partying after the race, and this kid comes up to me and says, ‘Are you Mikey Childress? I told him yes, and then he said to me, ‘You’re a f—kin a—hole. You always talk s—t about my brother.’ I didn’t even know that Mr. Caspino had a brother, but in any case, I tried to let it go and avoid any conflict. Then more things were said, and we got into each other’s faces. At that point, Cissy Baldwin got in between us to try and break it up, and she got hit by someone. It might have been me or it might have been someone else. I actually spoke to her afterward, and she told me that she really wasn’t sure how it happened. Even after it happened, we were cool. She told me that she hated to have to do it, but that to be fair she was going to have to ask me to leave the event just like she had the other person. I told her that I completely understood, and I apologized to her for what had happened. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and for the entire CORR organization, and that she got hurt at all is truly regrettable.

“But even after it was over, I was back with Jesse Jones in his trailer, and we were talking about it when Mr. Caspino walked over and told me that he had filed a restraining order against me and that I was not going to be allowed to come to any more CORR races or race in any desert events where he is racing. I didn’t know that you could just phone in a restraining order without actually talking to the police.

“As for the rest of what Mr. Caspino is saying happened, it’s simply not true. I never pushed anyone’s mother down, and I didn’t scream at anyone. Mr. Caspino is a loose cannon who has told me on several occasions that he will do anything he can to harm my career. He has even gone so far as to threaten to ‘pick off’ members of my family. I try to stay as far away from the guy as I can, because he seems to have a real vendetta against me. I’m just sorry that the whole incident happened, and I want to sincerely apologize to my fans and sponsors who have heard about this, but anyone who was there knows how it really went down.”