“I Think the Last Guy to Throw a Punch Was Me”: Kyle Busch on New Generation of NASCAR Drivers

During last Sunday’s race in Phoenix, on lap 204, Joey Logano got sidelined due to an accidental nudge from John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 Toyota, which in turn, collected several others like Corey LaJoie, Carson Hocevar, and rookies, Derek Kraus and Josh Berry. NASCAR fans would say crashes like those make the sport so thrilling. However, a lot of crashing and no winning is what Kyle Busch would say about the young drivers getting caught up in the skirmish.

Recently, the Chevy star appeared in an interview with ESPN and veteran sports analyst and former football punter, Pat McAfee. Among many other questions, McAfee asked this: “Is there still a little bit of dramatics in pit lane in NASCAR or is the younger generation not about that?”

To this, Busch replied, “The younger generation is all about crashing before winning. They tend to just throw it in the corner alongside you and wipe you out more times than not.”

"The younger generation is all about crashing before winning 😂😂

I think the last guy to throw a punch was me so no fights have really happened lately" @KyleBusch #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Y9J6pcEbT5

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 14, 2024

Over the years, Kyle Busch has been a part of his fair share of on-track squabbles that ensued from crashes. But not a lot of that has happened lately. So has he gotten softer? Busch laughed as he stated, “I’ll fight with anybody, I just got to get further up front!”

Kyle Busch, once a Rowdy, always a Rowdy

During their conversation, McAfee couldn’t help but replay the pit road fight between Busch and Logano during a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2017. Busch definitely had it coming. Recalling the incident that had left him with a bloody forehead, he said, “His (Logano’s) crew tackled me… he’s not even there. His crew tackled me and got me to the ground, but that was a fun day.”

The footage shows Busch marching towards Logano and smacking the latter right on his face. Needless to say, a series of expletive verbal exchanges followed the fight that ended in Logano’s crew holding off Busch from attacking Logano.

Nevertheless, today, Busch is happy to be the last one to have landed a punch on his opponent. “I think the last guy to throw a punch was me, so that hasn’t really happened lately,” he added.

Busch has not been a part of such fights for quite some time now. But that doesn’t mean he won’t in the future. At least we know now that he hasn’t gotten old or soft. Perhaps the old rowdiness in the #8 driver will resurface once he is instigated.

As NASCAR fans, who wouldn’t want that?