Racer Nicky Moore caught his left thumb in the countershaft sprocket on his Yamaha YZF-R6 during a WERA West race on the Classic Course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Classic Sunday. According to a race official, Moore reached down when he encountered a problem with his bike’s shifter. His glove was sucked into the uncovered countershaft sprocket and about 1-inch of his left thumb was severed. Moore had been banned from Saturday afternoon practice following an altercation with Chris Siglin at the exit of pit lane. Siglin said afterwards that he pulled up next to Moore following an intentional on-track punt that left his front brake lever bent outwards, flipped up his visor and asked Moore about the incident. In reply, Siglin said, Moore hit Siglin hard enough to knock him off his bike; Siglin said he then jumped up and tackled Moore off his bike and that the pair wrestled on the ground. Moore said that he unintentionally hit Siglin when Siglin suddenly slowed as if he had missed a shift, and that Siglin then followed him (Moore) into his pit, T-boned Moore’s bike, knocked Moore over and threw his (Siglin’s) bike on top of him. “Siglin T-boned me in the pit,” said Moore, who also said that Siglin had kicked at him on track and tried to ram him on track following the collision. “He came at me first. He rode his bike straight into my bike.” “That’s a blatent lie,” said Siglin. “I pulled up next to him at the exit from pit lane, next to the bathrooms there. All I did was flip my shield up and ask him WTF. He threw a right cross hard enough to knock me off my bike, and then I got up and tackled him and we kind of rolled around on the ground. While I was on top of him somebody was kicking me in the head.” Officials intervened and banned both riders from Saturday afternoon practice and at first also banned them from Sunday’s races. Both riders appealed and due to conflicting stories (from both the participants and from witnesses) of what actually happened, both were allowed to race on Sunday. Siglin said he suffered a broken finger in the melee. Moore said he would be consulting with a specialist for treatment of his severed thumb and hoped to be able to compete in the AMA National at Barber April 21-23; the severed piece could not be re-attached. Moore said he was not sure why the countershaft cover was not installed on his motorcycle. “We usually have that on,” he said. According to legal experts, the standard liability releases signed by racers do not cover intentional acts.