Drag race insurance scam smashes up

Speed Racer he ain’t.

Criminal charges can be a real drag, a fact to which Tim Barnum could probably attest after the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office charged him with a false claim of insurance after a video of Mr. Barnum crashing his car at Lexington, Oklahoma’s Thunder Valley Raceway surfaced on YouTube. 

The only problem is that Mr. Barnum, who hails from Oklahoma City, had claimed the accident occurred when he had a blowout on Aug. 15, 2015, on a highway and hit a center barrier destroying the front end of his 2015 Ford Mustang, according to a Monday news report by KWTV in Oklahoma City.

Farmers Insurance proclaimed the vehicle a total loss and cut Mr. Barnum a check for $13,697.78. Then the folks at Farmers spotted Mr. Barnum’s YouTube moment, and the investigation went into high gear.

A wrecking service allegedly admitted to picking up Barnum's car after the crash and delivering it to his pit area. The bill was made out to Garnum instead of Barnum

When confronted about his lack of candor regarding the drag racing, Mr. Barnum allegedly said that "he didn't tell Farmers Insurance he was racing his Mustang because they didn't ask."

Mr. Barnum also said that "he's been drag racing for years and has never had a claim," according to court records.

Investigators say Mr. Barnum eventually admitted he had suspected the insurance company wouldn’t cover the crash. He turned himself in at the Oklahoma County Jail and bonded out.