Former NASCAR team owner pleads guilty in tax case, hopes for racing comeback
A former NASCAR team owner who pleaded guilty in a payroll tax case in Charlotte this week said he loves the sport and hopes to return as an owner someday.
“I love NASCAR,” former BK Racing LLC owner and president Ronald Devine told The Charlotte Observer in a phone interview Thursday from his home in Burke, Virginia. “I’m a good guy. I would love to be back in racing.”
Devine said he flew down to plead guilty to one count of failure to pay payroll taxes in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. “We paid restitution, too,” he said.
Judge David Keesler allowed Devine to remain free on his original $25,000 unsecured bond pending a sentencing hearing that hasn’t been scheduled, court records show.
Devine faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charge of failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson’s office.
“I hadn’t done a payroll in 40 years in business,” Devine told the Observer. “But, as the owner, I was the responsible party. I thought it was in the best interests of me and my family (to plead guilty) and move on. I felt it was the right thing to do. I want to get this behind me.”
According to court documents, Devine, 67, “caused BK Racing to fail to account for and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes” from 2012 to 2017.
Instead of holding the money in trust to pay the payroll taxes that were due, he transferred more than $2 million to his other businesses, court records show. He used some of the money to pay his BK Racing expenses, according to court documents.
Team owner’s indictment, bankruptcy filing
In October, a grand jury in Charlotte indicted Devine on four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes, McClatchy News reported.
Devine filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his team in 2018 — three days before NASCAR’s Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, NBC Sports reported.
A bankruptcy court accused his team of owing more than $8 million in bank loans and was about to sue him, according to NBC Sports.
Devine told the Observer that his team went bankrupt due to the actions of a bank, although he declined to elaborate.
In August 2018, a judge ordered the sale of Charlotte-based BK Racing to Mooresville-based Front Row Motorsports for $2.08 million, NBC Sports reported.
Under his ownership, BK Racing owned two NASCAR charters, Devine told the Observer Thursday.
The team featured at least two drivers each year from 2012 to 2018, including seven in 2014, 2016 and 2017, according to MotorsportStats.com.
His best finish came with driver Matt DiBenedetto — sixth in the 2016 Food Lion 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Devine said.
BK Racing drivers had over 500 starts in NASCAR, including four cars in the 2016 Daytona 500, he said. Team sponsors included Dr Pepper and Burger King.
“It was a really successful, small NASCAR team,” Devine said.
He said he was in the pits with his team for every green flag, or race start.
“I had a lot of great employees,” he said.
It’s been seven-and-a-half years since a team under his control had a green flag appearance, he said, “and I want to race again.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Former NASCAR team owner pleads guilty in tax case, hopes for racing comeback."