NASCAR penalties pending in the Ricky Stenhouse Jr vs Kyle Busch altercation
Update: NASCAR penalty report after the fight at North Wilkesboro
On Sunday night, NASCAR hosted their annual All-Star Race. The event at North Wilkesboro Speedway paid $1M to the race winner. It begun and ended in drama.
Hear from NASCAR following the fight between Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Kyle Busch below.
On lap 1, Ricky Stenhouse Jr went three wide through the middle. Kyle Busch ended up on the bad end of the deal and tagged the outside wall.
On lap 2, payback was already in motion. Busch drove into the left rear of Stenhouse Jr and as he corrected, Stenhouse Jr went hard into the outside wall.
Stenhouse Jr was frustrated with the move. He let it be known as he drove his mangled car to Kyle Busch’s pit stall, parked it and waited for the wrecker to come get it.
The race was 200 laps in length. And the North Carolina track lacks tunnels. Meaning, Stenhouse Jr was forced to watch the entire race from the infield despite exiting the race on lap 2.
After the race, Busch walked directly to his hauler. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was already there, waiting for the driver of the No. 8.
The two drivers talked it out briefly. Each one disagreed with the others opinion.
“Watch the replay,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr yelled at Busch.
And as soon as he said that, he sent his right fist in the air. Ricky Stenhouse Jr punched Kyle Busch in the head.
Quickly, crew members jumped into the scene. Also, the father of Ricky Stenhouse Jr grabbed Busch by his racing suit.
Crew members were able to diffuse the situation. However, possible penalties could be on the way…
Kyle Busch punched by Ricky Stenhouse Jr at North Wilkesboro (Video)
John Probst of NASCAR comments after the altercation
“Nothing to announce right now,” John Probst stated to NASCAR.com after the race at North Wilkesboro Speedway regarding possible penalties.
“We have already started looking at the tape. We’ll take a deep dive into that on Tuesday.”
“Certainly, there would be some announcements, I would anticipate. There’s a lot of folks involved there that we don’t like seeing.”
What did he mean by that?
NASCAR rarely penalizes drivers in a driver to driver post-race altercation. But, many more than just the drivers were involved.
Probst could be referring to Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s father who grabbed Kyle Busch soon after the punch. And/or he could be mentioning crew members on either team who were heavily involved after the initial punch.
NASCAR typically announces penalties on Tuesday or Wednesday after the race weekend.
Update: NASCAR penalty report after the fight at North Wilkesboro
Watch the North Wilkesboro fight videos here
NASCAR All-Star Race Results: May 19, 2024 (North Wilkesboro)
