Following Sunday’s All-Star Race, NASCAR officials have announced penalties after a heated altercation between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch.
The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway this past weekend witnessed a physical dispute between NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Tensions rose when Stenhouse clipped Busch during the opening lap of the race, and shortly after, Busch retaliated by taking Stenhouse out two laps into the race.
At the North Wilkesboro Speedway, due to its throwback design without a tunnel to exit the track during a race, any driver who did not finish is required to stay and wait until all laps are complete.
Stenhouse waited to confront Busch and upon arriving at his hauler after crossing the finish line, the two drivers engaged in a face-to-face confrontation. Following a heated exchange of words, Stenhouse threw a right hook at Busch, prompting a brief brawl before both crews intervened and separated the drivers forcefully.
Now, Stenhouse and his crew members are facing consequences for the altercation.
According to NASCAR, Stenhouse has been fined $75,000 for punching Kyle Busch, while two crew members from the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team have been suspended. The team mechanic, Clint Myrick, received an eight-race suspension, and the tuner, Keith Matthews, was suspended for the next four Cup Series events.
NEWS: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been fined $75,000 for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct at @NWBSpeedway.
Additionally, four-race and eight-race suspensions have been issued to two crew members of the No. 47 team. pic.twitter.com/mMySkJjR5u
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 22, 2024
Additionally, Richard Stenhouse, Ricky’s father, was indefinitely suspended for violations of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct (Sections 4.4.D in the NASCAR Rule Book).
“I think it’s fair to say that when you have crew members and family members that put their hands on our drivers, we’re going to react,” NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer stated on Wednesday morning during an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “There’s not a lot of detail I’m going to get into due to the fact that these are appealable penalties, and I want to make sure that we’re fair to that process. With that being said, and we’ve been consistent about this when crew members and family members get involved, we are going to react. That’s exactly what we did.”
Sawyer continued, “When you wait 198 laps and you make those decisions that were made, again, we’re going to react to that. Once we get to the point where it gets physical, we want the two drivers to be able to have time to express their differences. Once it escalates to a physical altercation, we are going to react.”
Sawyer also pointed out the lack of a tunnel or crossover bridge for Stenhouse to leave the track, highlighting that he had the opportunity during that time to make a better decision.
You can watch the altercation between Stenhouse and Busch below. Caution: The language in the following video may not be appropriate for all audiences.