Ricky Stenhouse Sr. suspended indefinitely for involvement in Kyle Busch fight at NASCAR All-Star Race
Bad news for Ricky Stenhouse Sr. after he got himself involved in his son’s fight with Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NASCAR has decided to hand out a punishment to the elder Stenhouse for getting into it with Busch.
According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Ricky Sr. has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR.
NASCAR frowns upon third parties getting involved in driver disputes. Busch wrecked Stenhouse on the track, not his dad. No need for him to get involved. Frankly, there was too much action from the crew as well in this situation.
Here is what NASCAR has decided will happen:
— Stenhouse fined $75,000
— JTG Daugherty Racing mechanic Clint Myrick suspended eight races
— JTG Daugherty Racing tuner Keith Matthews suspended four races
Busch was not issued any fine or penalty from NASCAR.
“Better decisions could have been made through that period of time between the incident that happened on the racetrack and the incident that happened in the garage,” NASCAR vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said of the $75,000 fine to Stenhouse, via Kelly Crandall of RACER.
In the multiple videos of the Stenhouse and Busch fight, you can see Ricky Sr. get himself involved. He goes over to Busch, grabs him, swings at him, and then Busch swings and hits him back. Stenhouse could even be heard yelling “Dad!” multiple times.
As Stenhouse said on Corey LaJoie’s “Stacking Pennies” podcast Monday, dad just “likes to fight.”
“Dad likes to fight,” Stenhouse said. “Dirt racer from back home. I saw him and I was just making sure everybody wasn’t gonna [pummel him] or each other. And it looked like all the crew guys were grabbing each other, him included. Just grabbing each other.”
NASCAR hands down penalties for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-Kyle Busch fight at North Wilkesboro
The wheels were set in motion after the two-time Cup Series champion dumped Stenhouse into the wall just two laps into the 200-lap exhibition race. Stenhouse, stuck in the infield with nowhere to go since North Wilkesboro doesn’t have any exit tunnels, vowed he would see Busch after the race came to an end.
Stenhouse stayed true to his word, waiting for Busch outside his hauler. Once Busch arrived with a herd of media around him, it was on. The two exchanged words before Stenhouse threw a right hand at Busch, setting off a massive brawl between the two and their respective pit crews.
As the situation was being diffused and Stenhouse dragged away from the scene, he yelled, “I’ll wreck you at Charlotte,” to Busch. Busch responded to the comment, “Bring it. I don’t give a f***. I suck just as bad as you. Let’s go.”
All the attention now turns to this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to see if there’s another chapter to this feud.