NASCAR draws heavy criticism for fines, suspensions for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and team
NASCAR fined Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and suspended two team members for their involvement in the fight with Kyle Busch. Fans are unhappy with the decision because they believe NASCAR is using the fight and wreck from the race to promote the sport.
Elliott Sadler wrote. “This is dead wrong if you plan on using the wreck [or] fight for promotions moving forward .. you can’t fine a guy then show it to sell tickets at NASCAR events .. double standard…. Ricky saved the All Star race.”
Matt Weaver added: “I didn’t like the penalty report today. At all. Actions detrimental? Please.”
NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez has a question for the organization. He asked, “If it’s so wrong then why is it all over NASCAR social channels? We should be allowed to show our emotions, I don’t get it…”
Other fans don’t agree with the fine because NASCAR constantly shared the fight on social media. Stenhouse punched Busch after the race and crew members attacked him, but Stenhouse was angry since Busch intentionally bumped into him during that race which led to a wreck.
After the fight, Stenhouse appeared on the Stacking Pennies podcast and said he wasn’t planning on punching Busch when he confronted him.
“I went into it thinking if [Busch] de-escalates it, then everything will be fine,” Stenhouse said. “But I was still pretty fired up.” LoJoie then told Stenhouse that Busch was adamant that he ran him into the wall. And he kept on about that. He’s got the smirk on his face that he always does.”
Stenhouse also explained why he felt remorse for the fight. “The sucky part is you always feel bad after the fact,” he said. “When you wake up the next day, you’re like ‘You know what, I probably shouldn’t have done that,’ because you got kids watching. …But [Busch] also shouldn’t have wrecked me on purpose just because I passed him.”
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competion explained the fine and suspension on SirusXM Radio on Wednesday. “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,” he said, per NASCAR.com. “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.”