NASCAR has laid down the law after a wild fight between drivers Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shocked the racing world.
Stenhouse Jr., 36, and Busch, 39, came to blows after NASCAR’s All-Star Race on Sunday, May 19 — which NASCAR shared via social media — after Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevy was bumped during the race by Busch’s No. 8 Chevy.
On Wednesday, May 22, NASCAR announced Stenhouse had been fined $75,000 for punching Busch. The organization also suspended two crew members from his JTG Daugherty Racing Team.
Officials also indefinitely suspended Stenhouse Jr.’s father, Richard Stenhouse, for violations of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.
Stenhouse Jr.’s team mechanic Clint Myrick was suspended for the next eight Cup Series races for his role in the fight, while tuner Keith Matthews was suspended for the next four Cup Series events.
“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 senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said Wednesday 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.”
Sawyer continued, “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.”
Stenhouse Jr. was only able to complete two of the race’s 200 laps after his car was hit by Busch. In a post-race interview, Stenhouse Jr. indicated he was going to “handle it.” When asked to elaborate, he said, “You can just watch afterward.”
After the full completion of the race, Stenhouse Jr. confronted Busch, which led to both teams throwing hands and tussling violently.
“When you wait 198 laps and you make those decisions that were made, again, we’re going to react to that,” Sawyer explained. “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.”
Footage from the fight drew widespread interest from across the sports world. A video of the entire fight posted by The Athletic’s motorsports reporter Jordan Bianchi on Sunday night has since been viewed 6.9 million times.
