Speedway general manager faces lewdness charge

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - The executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been arrested on a misdemeanor charge of lewdness after police say they observed him and a 19-year-old woman in a parked car in Manchester.

Police said in a news release Thursday that officers were monitoring illicit activities on Jan. 21 when they saw a woman get into the passenger side of an SUV. They followed it into a parking lot. Arrested were 53-year-old Jerry Gappens and Kendra Johnson; it wasn't clear if the two had met before.

New Hampshire law says a person is guilty of the misdemeanor "if such person fornicates, exposes his or her genitals, or performs any other act of gross lewdness under circumstances which he or she should know will likely cause affront or alarm. "

Gappens' lawyer, Tom Reid, said Gappens acknowledges using poor judgment resulting in the charge that is "embarrassing and devastating to him and his family."

Reid said while Gappens made a bad decision, he didn't, in Reid's opinion, engage in conduct violating the statute.

It wasn't known if Johnson had a lawyer.

The speedway in Loudon is a stop for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in July and the Sylvania 300 in September. Gappens became executive vice president and general manager in 2008.